Summer Changes
by Troll99
Summary: The Connors and friends on summer vacation that turn out to be a nightmare instead. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong. Can they withstand the dark clouds that gathered around them? Jameron, hints of possible Sarah/Derek, OCs. **Chapter 14 uploaded**
1. Prologue

_After I finished 'Wintertale', I announced a sequel to the story. The fact is, I don't like unfinished stories, broken promises etc. Therefore I immediately after 'Wintertale' came to its finale, and its prequel had been posted, started to work on this story. It's a pure sequel to 'Wintertale', meaning that it's highly advisable to read 'The Night That Changed Everything' as well as 'Wintertale' to understand the relationships and characters, depicted in this story, unless you've already read them. Not that I'd be advertising my work (OK, maybe just a little … LOL), I simply believe that if you start reading this one, you'll be a little lost as how characters changed to become like they'll be in this story._

_I also wrote that this would be completely different story than 'Wintertale'. Perhaps I'm risking losing some readers by taking the "mainstream" direction (with that I mean that in this one there will be other terminators, there will be fighting, there will be huge problems for our heroes, there will be angst …). But the idea was there, forcing itself into my mind and I couldn't simply discard it. I still hope that some of you will like it._

_Again, as always: I'm not a native speaker, so, please, keep that in mind as you stumble upon my grammar, spelling and syntax mistakes. I have no beta reader so everything you read is mine and I'm the only one esponsible. Maybe I should ask someone to beta read for me, but …_

'_Wintertale' was a fluffy, romantic and humorous story, while this one is much darker, dealing with much more unpleasant situations and things. Humor and romance were not in the foreground as I wrote the concept for the story, so they will be far scarcer than in 'Wintertale'. Still, here and there, you'll find some, I hope._

_This prologue will undoubtedly open many questions and leave all of them unanswered; it will absolutely be confusing, making the readers asking themselves 'What the hell did he mean with that?' Al I'm asking for, is a little patience. The story will have about 40 chapters and (almost) everything will be revealed and answered at the right time._

_Not to forget: I own nothing but the plot and OCs and am definitely not making any money out of it._

* * *

**Prologue**

**Unknown Time, Unknown Location**

The wind blew across the plateau, raising clouds of dust that whirled into the air, following the direction of the wind gusts, spreading over the seemingly endless plains and enveloping the countryside in a veil, blurring the sight. They travelled across the barren lands until reaching the rim of the plateau, where the plains suddenly fell into the abyss, on the bottom of which the silver streak of a river carved its meandering eternal way through the depths of the canyon. The dust clouds continued their way over the edge for a while before slowly beginning to fall down towards the bottom of the abyss, following the dying wind that seemed to be tiring from its forceful journey across the plains and allowed itself to slip down, deeper and deeper into the canyon, getting weaker and weaker as it approached the bottom.

The sun shone mercilessly down on the plateau, raising the temperature high above comfort zone. Almost no vegetation could be found anywhere, just small cactuses here and there witnessed that there was still life here, struggling for survival in the hostile environment. And even these tiny pockets of life seemed to fight a losing battle with the relentless wind and sun. It looked like the nature decided that this wasn't the place for living beings to prosper and set its devastating forces on fulfilling its decision, obliterating every trace of life.

At the edge of the plateau, a man with long raven hair, carefully bound in a pony tail, stood like a statue. His eyes were closed and the face revealed complete concentration. Head slightly bent backwards, so that his face faced the piercing blue skies, slightly blurred by the dust clouds, slowly tilting from one side to another and back in a repeating motion that seemed like it would be made subconsciously. Arms spread slightly and fingers outstretched only underlined the state of his concentration. He didn't bother the wind that tossed his pony tail over his shoulder and settled it flapping on his chest. His lips moved slightly in silence, regardless of the dust particles, gently stinging the back of his head.

It seemed like he would be standing there for hours, but it was in fact only few minutes since he came here and stopped at the edge of the abyss. His eyes opened abruptly and gazed blankly towards the sky for few moments. Slowly, his head straightened up and his look concentrated on the vast plain on the other side of the canyon, which split the landside in two halves, making every passing to the other side by land almost impossible. After few seconds his eyes focused on the rim and his arms sank the short distance to his body and now hung limply.

"It's time." A soft whisper emanated from his lips and almost got lost in the howling of the wind that seemed to have suddenly gotten much stronger. As if these were the magic words, his body suddenly became alive. He turned resolutely and walked away from the rim, slowly vanishing into the clouds of dust, seemingly completely unfazed by the obscured visibility and almost sand storm.

* * *

"So, what you are saying is basically that we have to deal with a machine, built in the future and sent back to fulfill its programmed mission?" The man who spoke these words in a calm, almost cold, emotionless voice was dressed exquisitely in well tailored suit. His eyes slowly shifted from the memory stick he held in his hand to look at the other man, sitting beside him on the bench.

All around them children screamed in delight and ran to and fro, engaged themselves at the playsets, chasing dogs and kittens as well as other kids too, while their parents, mostly mothers, sat on the benches, mainly in pairs or three together, talking, but still keeping an vigilant eye on their offspring. It was an ordinary day on the children's playground, if it were not for the two men, sitting on one bench, the farthest away from the others, obviously not being a part of this everyday's social gathering. Furthermore, should someone pay attention, they'd soon find six other men in dark suits, wearing sunglasses, standing on the strategic points that ensured them control over every possible threat to the two men on the bench. Actually, quite a standard situation, only underlining the wide spread cliché of how the high ranking officials of the semi government agencies conducted their dark business. It was obvious that they tried so hard to act unsuspicious that the efforts resulted in highly suspicious picture.

The other man, looking a bit older than the first one, dressed more casual in a dress that could have been bought in any clothes store, nodded: "Yes, that's the bottom line. However, I have to warn you, that this machine can take out entire squad of seals in a matter of seconds if it's allowed to act. You have to stop it before it gets a chance to attack, otherwise you're doomed."

The first man smirked arrogantly: "I have my professionals who know what they have to do and according to the data you gave us it won't be too difficult to find it." He tapped slightly at the memory stick, paused and turned to look at a little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, running after a small white dog, which barked enthusiastically and kept its pace just fast enough as to not allow the girl to catch up on it. Her giggles echoed across the playground and her face glowed in glee. There was no chance she could ever catch her prey, but she continued after the dog undeterred, and enjoying the race she could never win with all childish innocence and enthusiasm.

As soon as the girl and the dog disappeared between the other kids, the first man turned back to the other one: "Why are you giving me these data? According to my information, your company needs that machine to complete their contract." He paused and smirked arrogantly again: "Are you expecting some personal bonus from this? I couldn't imagine you going back after such betrayal."

The second man wiped his forehead, on which now the small drops of sweat formed, with shaking hand and after a second answered, without looking at the first man: "I think that the company hides some crucial facts from you. I assume they are trying to double cross you, so I decided to act to prevent them from doing it. I don't expect any personal bonus apart from your help in disappearing from their radar."

The first man's smirk widened: "Pure patriotism then. If we only had more men like you." He looked at one of the men, standing guard and slightly jerked his head towards the second man with raised eyebrow. After he got the guard's attention, he shook the head, and tilted it away from the second man while closing his eyes for a second. The second man kept his gaze to the ground and missed the complete exchange. The guard nodded barely visible after receiving the unspoken command and turned to the other guards.

* * *

"Are you definitely sure that this information is correct? No chance that it could be a trap?" The woman's eyes bored holes into the face of a scrawny young man, who seemed to almost fidget under her glare.

"Yeah, I'm absolutely sure. I've checked it over and over again and could find nothing that would prove it wrong." The man, probably in his twenties, spoke in calm voice, which was in perfect contradiction with his looks and his clothing. He spoke very self assured, like he would be just pretending to be someone from the bottom of a social ladder, whilst in reality he'd be on the top of the food chain.

The woman's stare softened a bit and a small smile appeared on her lips: "OK, I'll forward it then. " Her face momentarily got the threatening expression again: "But … should I find out that you sold me a lie, I'll find you and take care that you'll never sell anything to anyone again. There's no hole in the ground in which you could hide yourself from me. Understood?" Her dark eyes glared at the boy, who smiled nonchalantly in return, showing that her threatening face made no big impression on him.

"I wouldn't try to double cross you, especially not with such vital information. You know me." His voice was calm and soft and revealed that he really meant what he just said.

The woman's face softened and she grinned at him and nodded before she turned on her heel and left him with quick steps.

* * *

A young black man in an expensive looking suit sat at the polished, antique looking desk. His eyes were glued to the screen of his notebook and their erratic movements made it clear that he was reading something that got his attention. Besides the computer, there was nothing else on the smooth surface of the big table, making it look very small in the middle of the vast shiny table panel. His face was slowly beginning to show his astonishment and his eyes widened ever so slightly as he came upon something that obviously peaked his interest. After few seconds he absorbed the message or whatever it was that he was reading and leaned back, his eyes staring beyond the screen into the wall but seeing nothing.

It took him quite a long time to get out of his daze and his eyes slowly refocused on the screen again. Slowly, he lifted his hands, neared them the keyboard and rested there for a while like he would still contemplate if he should type anything or not. His eyes flickered from the screen to his hands, gazing at them and noticing that they were trembling slightly. Then he looked at the screen again and murmured so quietly, that even he himself had problems to hear the words: "That can't be true! You bastards! I'll have my revenge! I'll have it and it's going to be very, very messy!"

His hands lifted and touched the keyboard. He hesitated for a second but then began to type furiously, while his eyes got the distinctive dangerous, even murderous, gleam, revealing how at the moment hate marked and even directed his feelings and actions.

Few minutes later he finished his typing slide the mouse slightly and after he clicked the mouse button, he leaned back into his chair. Hate was gone from his face, there was only smugness and self assured smirk visible on his face. He intertwined his fingers, put his elbows to the table and leaned his chin against the intertwined fingers, while grinning at the screen: "The trap is set! Now you'll see that it's not good to mess up with me! You'll learn it the hardest way!"

TBC


	2. Chapter 1

_Thanks for the reviews. I know that here was not much to review in the prologue, therefore special thanks to those who did it nevertheless._

_The story actually begins with this chapter. A short insight in what happened between the winter vacation and now (now is summer), a new decision coming from Sarah. I hope you'll like it._

_I wrote that I have no beta reader … well, that has changed now. This chapter had been betaed by Burnout'83 and I'd like to thank him for his efforts. The chapter wouldn't be as it is without his help and suggestions. Thanks!_

* * *

**Chapter 1  
**

"Stop it John! I mean it!" Cameron was trying her best to sound threatening and it gave her face a serious expression but, there was a note of amusement in her voice and slight smile curling up the corners of her mouth, not to mention her eyes, which almost danced with laughter, revealed that she enjoyed John's tickling much more than she was ready to admit. Her efforts to wriggle out of his hands were not meant exactly serious and even additionally underlined the fact that she enjoyed the 'torture', carried out by her fiancée.

John didn't even bother to answer her and continued his attack, which finally resulted in loud laughter coming from Cameron. He knew perfectly well that she could easily stop him but he also knew that she enjoyed it just as much as he did.

It's been few weeks since John discovered that Cameron was actually ticklish. This important discovery had been made quite unexpectedly, as his hand once unintentionally slipped and landed under her ribcage, making her flinch at it. Ever since, he vastly used his new knowledge to make his fiancée laugh. It was so nice to hear her laughing aloud … to him it was just like chiming of small silver bells … the most beautiful music for his ears. Needless to say, that Cameron very often answered his actions in same way and tickled him too. However, there was one small difference: whenever she chose to tickle him, he could be sure to get the fiercest tickle attack of his life and it often ended with him, lying slumped over her legs, panting heavily from exhaustion, both laughing like crazy.

Few times they have been caught in the act by Sarah or Derek while enjoying the new-found way to express their affection for each other. Sarah's first reaction was quite uncharacteristic for her. She stared at the laughing, wriggling and almost squirming Cameron with open mouth in utter disbelief. Seeing the cyborg laughing so wildly and obviously enjoying the 'attack' from her son was something. It would haunt her nightmares from that day on. She remembered her own words how machines under certain circumstances would have no need to exterminate the human race … they would become more human than us. And seeing Cameron behaving like that was definitely confirming her scenario, it was almost frightening.

Ever since they returned from their winter vacation few months ago, Cameron's behavior was changing almost daily. She even stopped acting machine-like in Sarah's and Derek's presence and for the first time they were able to see her like John already knew her … acting human, expressing her emotions openly and not hiding behind her scary robot façade. True, even at the end of their winter vacation she already very often slipped in such mood, but it wasn't as explicit as it became later. If Sarah didn't know better, she'd swear that Cameron was a normal teenage girl in love with her son. There were absolutely none of the previous signs to attest to her mechanical nature. Even Derek had begun looking at her with awe and sometimes, when he didn't try to hide behind his self imposed uninterested mask, when he allowed his true feelings to be visible also to others, he admitted that she was absolutely nothing like the other machines. He still had his reservations concerning trusting her, but with time, they'd shrunk and crumpled into almost nothing. Cameron definitely proved to anyone that her only concern and only priority was John's safety and happiness. And that was a point that Derek as well as Sarah both shared and pursued at any cost.

Cameron's and John's relationship progressed without any problems. They became inseparable and whenever you saw one of them, you could be absolutely sure that the other one wasn't more than 10 feet away. They followed each other, no matter where they might go. Sarah had her suspicions that they would sooner or later have to step back a little and give each other more space, but until now she had been proved wrong. After she finally accepted the fact that they weren't going to cave in, in their relationship, at least not yet, she found an unexpected pleasure in watching them following each other like two puppies and her, sometimes sarcastic and slightly poisonous, but always loving remarks about how much they craved the closeness of another, often made her day. In the beginning John sometimes reacted to them and bit, but he gradually learned to laugh at his own account too.

Cameron was slowly developing a very specific taste of humor. She preferred dry, a little sarcastic and intelligent humor. John sometimes told her that she was adopting the especially devastating sense of humor, which couldn't be understood by everyone. Although she knew perfectly well what he meant, she didn't share his opinion. It was simply the way she accepted the world around her – subtly and very thoughtfully. No matter how much she evolved, she was and would always be a machine and her way of thinking was different than human. Sometimes she doubted herself and expressed her fears to John, but he always managed to reassure her that he loved her exactly the way she was, that he loved everything that she was. After she carefully pondered all pros and contras of her mechanical nature, she always came to the conclusion that she wouldn't want to be human. The fact that John loved her also strengthened her conviction.

Somehow it seemed that the positive atmosphere, the improved relationships between all four of them since the winter vacation continued at home too. It was definitely also because no new problems have been detected and they could go on with their life and preparations for the Judgment Day like planned.

Soon after they returned back home, Cameron took upon herself the task to prepare John for the stress, which awaited them in the future, not only mentally and educationally but also physically. So she woke him up every morning before six and they went for the two hour training. At first John was reluctant to cooperate and she had to use sometimes not so subtle methods to get over his revolt, but gradually he began to enjoy in it. Cameron had her suspicions that his sudden eagerness to participate in the training process had something to do with her change of running attire. As she started training him she wore sweat pants and a long sleeved sweater, while she now changed into shorts and tiny tank tops, preferably slightly translucent, allowing her sports bras to reveal themselves very subtly through the thin fabric. His eyes, sometimes literally glued to her body explained his sudden interest for training. Although also his greatly improved physical shape made the training more enjoyable, she still believed to be the main reason for his sudden enthusiasm. No matter what was responsible for it, she found it acceptable and desirable, for it assured his complete cooperation.

They kept occasional contact with Tim and Andrea, although they didn't meet since the time at Lake Tahoe. However, one day, about two months ago, John decided that they shouldn't lie to them anymore; well, to be accurate – he proposed that they should stop lying about where they lived. Cameron was more than reluctant to accept his decision, but he insisted that they should tell the siblings that they moved to L.A.

And right now it was again time for John to talk to Cameron about this issue.

"I still don't think that it's a good idea to tell them where we live. In fact I think it's a bad idea." Cameron protested after John for probably the hundredth time said they should tell Andrea and Tim that they now lived in Los Angeles. The tickling attack was over and after few minutes of comfortably sitting on the couch, enjoying each other's company, John brought up the topic again.

"I know what you think Cameron. But what if they, for instance, decided to surprise us with their visit? What would they think should they cruise up and down Prescott in search of infamous Sarah, John and Derek Baum and a certain Cameron Phillips, just to find that people with such names never lived in Prescott?" John shook his head. "No, it's better to tell them. L.A. is big enough to go undercover in case of emergency and after all … do you really think they might be grays?" He challenged Cameron.

Cameron had to admit that there were no flaws in his logic. But she still didn't agree with him completely, although she was reasonably sure that Andrea and Tim were in fact harmless. She shook her head a bit reluctantly: "No, I don't think they are grays. But still … "

Before she could continue, John cut her off with a kiss. She tensed a bit, but after only a second or two, she relaxed into his lips. _Why do I react so strongly to his kisses? I should maintain my composure and prove him that I'm right. And yet … every time he kisses me, my determination seems to melt like ice on the summer day._

"Why do you always kiss me when I object you?" Cameron frowned at John after they broke the kiss.

John smirked at her mischievously: "Because it's the only effective way to prevent you from talking."

Cameron frowned even deeper and pouted: "There are also other ways. You could persuade me with the facts."

"I could. But it would take longer and I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I enjoy my way of shutting you up." John leaned towards her and his eyes sparkled while his lips were only inches away from Cameron's.

Cameron's lips slowly curved into an impish smile: "Perhaps you're right. But I think we should test your theory more thoroughly and more often." She breathed quietly and her lips moved even closer to his.

"I couldn't agree more! We should pract … mpfh." Everything else was silenced by Cameron's gentle attack on his lips.

"Oh dear, haven't I already told you two to get a room? On the second thought … yes I have … quite a few times actually!" Sarah's voice interrupted the moment of tenderness, which would otherwise probably extend into one hour or even longer.

Cameron and John have gotten used to such interruptions in the past months and didn't react like they did at the beginning of their relationship. They ended their kiss without any rush and then looked at Sarah, who towered over them with fake annoyance written all over her face.

"We do have a room, mom, but it's too far." John answered to his mother, daring her to say something more. Cameron just looked at her and grinned impishly.

Sarah sighed: "You're being a smartass way too often John Connor. And you …" She turned to Cameron and pointed at her: "Don't grin like a Cheshire cat! And don't behave like some … ugh … like some horny teenage girl."

"But I am!" Cameron deadpanned.

Sarah's jaw fell open: "What? What are you? Cheshire cat or horny teenage girl?" She couldn't believe that Cameron was behaving like that and that she actually talked back. Additionally with such mischievous smirk!

"Horny." Cameron's additional explanation in flat voice and with perfect poker face caused John to snort before exploding into laughter. After few seconds he began to cough and almost choked until Cameron patted him on his back, definitely not overly gentle.

"Oh god! What have I done to deserve two hormonally driven teenagers? As if one of my own were not enough now I even have to cope with hormonally driven teenaged cyborg!" Sarah rolled her eyes and looked up with head tilted backwards while clasping her hands under her chin like she was praying to an unknown deity, perhaps the domestic god or goddess of ceilings.

"I disagree. I'm not hormonally driven. I have no hormones." Cameron thought it necessary to clarify the situation for Sarah with deadly serious face, but slight twitching of her mouth and a twinkle in her eye revealed it was in good humor.

Sarah sighed deeper and decided that this was a discussion she couldn't win. In the past few months, when she disagreed with Cameron, she sometimes tried to discuss the issue with her and the result was always the same. After few minutes of her ranting, Cameron would be staring at her blank faced, while Sarah would be fuming in anger to have lost her discussion with the cyborg girl again. "Whatever." Even her way out of the affair was almost always the same.

John enjoyed such verbal battles between his mother and his fiancée immensely. After initial insecurity as he witnessed their dispute for first few times, he realized that they both enjoyed it too and was relieved that two women he loved the most, respected each other highly and were actually bonding over such unusual discussions. Of course … there was a little competition present in every discussion, competition over him. That much he understood and he could only hope that it wouldn't one day transform into open, hostile competition, which would force him into choosing between them. He loved them both and he also needed them both. The mere idea of having to choose between them horrified him.

Sarah's lips curved into a smile and she nodded to Cameron, who smiled and nodded back. Then Sarah turned to John: "I've got an idea how we could spend the summer."

John was suddenly very concentrated on his mother's words and it felt like his ears had literally perked up to hear what she had to tell him. Even Cameron turned to face Sarah fully and gazed expectantly into her face. They both remembered what happened the last time Sarah had such an idea. They went to winter vacation and they both found their way into each other's heart. Considering the positive outcome of Sarah's last suggestion they were really interested what she had on her mind this time.

Sarah noticed that she got their undivided attention and grinned conspiratorially. "The idea with winter vacation turned out to be a very good one after all." Her eyes swept over Cameron and John, seeing them nodding and she didn't fail to notice their intertwined hands. _It looks like they were Siamese twins lately. I can't remember the last time I've seen them unattached at least by their hands recently_ "At least for the two of you." She looked at the couple challengingly, hoping to see them blush, but noticing with some irritation that they just continued to stare at her expectantly. Maybe there was a slight smirk on John's face but Cameron's expression didn't change at all upon hearing her last remark.

Sighing upon her failure to get the desired response, Sarah continued: "I believe that we could make the summer vacation too." She was suggesting it, knowing full well that every vacation could be John's last one before the world would change forever. Therefore she really wanted him to enjoy the relatively carefree days as much as possible.

John's grin told her that she made a right choice. Even Cameron looked quite happy over the suggestion. _OK guys, not everything is as it looks to be; here's now the downside of my proposal!_ Sarah grinned devilishly and continued: "But we should do it differently this time. No cozy hotels, no sweet-doing-nothing. We should go somewhere in the hills and make a vacation as survival training. You'll have to learn that too, you know?"

John's face fell, but not as much as Sarah expected, while Cameron turned to him and looked at him with interested eyes: "That could be quite good actually, John. You will definitely have to learn how to survive without help sometime and this could be the best opportunity to begin your training."

"Are you sure you haven't teamed up with my mom on this?" John's face scrunched up, but in his eyes she could see that he was actually teasing her, so she decided to play along.

"What if I have? Would it disturb you?" She tilted her head and looked at him with big questioning eyes.

"No … not really." John's lips curved into a small smile. "I knew that it would come to this someday and I'm only happy that you'll be there with me."

"Geez, John! I didn't mean it to sound like real vacation! It's a working camp. You won't have too much time to think about doing stupid things, even less to actually be _doing_ stupid things. You'll get up first thing every day and you'll work your ass off." Sarah still looked at him with that certain gleam in her eye.

John stared at his mother thoughtfully for a second. The idea was growing on him and he was starting to think about spending some time away from bustling city together with Cameron. If he'd have to work hard for that … well, it would definitely be worth it. _I guess Cameron would be very gentle to me after the whole day's hard training? Maybe I could persuade her to give me a little massage? Or even something better? _He suddenly smirked conspiratorially at Cameron, but she was gazing at Sarah and ignored him. "As long as I have Cameron with me I'll take whatever you throw at me."

Sarah looked at him in slight astonishment: "You really mean it, don't you?"

John pulled Cameron's hand into his lap: "Yeah, mom, I do." Then he got serious: "I know that it could only be of advantage to be prepared for such conditions, to learn how to depend on myself for survival." Then he looked into Cameron's face and smiled tenderly: "I guess that no other John Connor before had such luck." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and elaborated: "I have the most beautiful and strong partner, who, I shouldn't forget to mention, loves me and who means a world to me. I think that 'being John Connor means being lonely' doesn't apply to me. As long as I have you by my side I'll never be lonely."

Cameron smiled back gently: "But you still have to become _the_ John Connor."

Sarah looked at this small exchange of affection between her son and his protector with amused but affectionate smile on her lips. _She was his rock in the oncoming storm and not only physically. _She coughed to get their attention again: "So, I was thinking of renting a remote cabin in the Shasta region. We could stay there for at least two weeks."

"How did you come up with Shasta region?" John's eyebrows hiked up his forehead. "Err … where is it actually?"

Cameron rolled her eyes and sighed. John's general education was still lacking a lot. He never particularly liked the school and geography was one of the subjects that topped John Connor's 'I don't want/can't be assed to learn' in school list. "It's a region around Mt. Shasta in northern California." Turning her attention back to Sarah she said: "I think it's a good choice. It's remote but not too far away. At least in my future, there were no significant Skynet activities in the area and the chances that any terminators could be in the region are very slim."

John pretended he hadn't heard Cameron's sigh. He knew he didn't exactly pass the geography test. If Cameron raised the slightly thorny issue of him and 'geography' again, John briefly considered pointing out that George Bush hadn't needed to know where Afghanistan was before committing American troops. However he quickly decided to drop this line of counter-argument for world leaders needing to know what countries they were at war with and where they were located on the globe wasn't a good idea, actually it was lame and she was going to rip it up like a she bear that's discovered a box of cheerio's left behind by back packers at a campsite, as usual...where was he... bears? Cameron was so damn gorgeous… "What could we do there? Besides chasing bears, that is …"

"Don't worry about bears. You'll have the best opportunity to learn how to stay alive in the wilderness." Cameron looked at him flatly, not amused over his remark at least.

Sarah exchanged a conspiratorial glance with Cameron : "Well, I see that you're learning how to handle this big baby. You're doing it better each day."

The two women were literally talking over his head like he wasn't there: "I'm not a baby! You women are so unfair …" He trailed off, seeing Cameron's face bursting into amused smile and her eyes, sparkling with joy. "Fooled me again, right?"

Cameron's smile grew bigger by the second. "Yes, John. Fooled you again."

"I want to get mad at you; mom why can't I get mad at her?" John leaned back and smiled, while his hand stroked Cameron's forearm.

"Hmmm, let me guess?" Cameron tilted her head seductively and parted her lips slightly while gazing at him with bottomless eyes.

But, before John could answer her, they were once again interrupted by a discreet cough coming from his mother. They both looked at her and she waved her hand: "Oh, just keep on doing what you're doing and don't mind your mother who happens to be in the same room as you two lovebirds."

"Really? Are you really asking us to continue here?" John saw Sarah's amused eyes and knew perfectly that she was just teasing them. Then he turned to Cameron: "Maybe we should listen to my mother. After all, she is the oldest in this room. And elders should be obeyed."

"Now you would listen to me! Of all times exactly now?" Sarah snorted. "If you haven't listened to me before, I don't want you to listen to me now!"

"Well, then don't give me any advices you know might backfire." John deadpanned in a flat voice, trying to keep his poker face straight.

Sarah laughed at his remark but then got serious again: "Seriously, I've already made a reservation for a remote cabin for the next month. I wouldn't trust you two to make any more travel arrangements because I'm sure that they'd turn out completely different than agreed." She stopped and looked at the two: "I have had bad experiences with you two organizing everything."

Cameron opened her mouth to protest, but Sarah cut her off with raised hand: "I know that it was actually John's idea. But you accepted it gladly and therefore you're clearly an accomplice, so don't try to talk your way out of it."

Cameron looked at her with pouting lips and John gently stroked her hand: "Don't get upset Cameron. She likes you therefore she finds a way to tease you."

Cameron turned to John with slightly opened mouth as if she would still want to say something but decided to keep silent for now.

John studied his mother's expression trying to gauge the best tactical response: "I guess that that's a spacious cabin you rented. And as I know you, it's absolutely remote, perhaps not even accessible by road and … let me guess … does it have water and electricity at all?" John slouched and folded his arms in a way that he knew annoyed Sarah. Sometimes if he just pushed the right button she'd divulge ...

Sarah didn't react as he expected her to: "Actually, it has everything and you can even drive right up to it with the by car. It also has an excellent view."

John was satisfied that he got all the information he wanted and turned to Cameron again: "Maybe we could invite Andrea and Tim to come along? They could keep you company while I'm out there trying to survive without you."

Cameron seemed to examine his proposition thoughtfully: "I don't know if it's a good idea. It would be better if we were alone."

"Are you afraid that your true nature could be revealed?" John asked her with a gentle smile. "I don't think it could be that irritating and dangerous to have some friends around. I guess I won't be trying to survive in the wild all the time. And as my mom obviously planned everything in advance… she probably already has a schedule of my training prepared and I can only guess that you will not stay with me constantly, so I'd prefer you to have some company while I'm away."

"I can be perfectly fine alone." Cameron objected, but not as convincingly as she used to before their winter vacation. She changed in these months and now she even valued to have occasional company of other humans. John was still her teacher in everything human, but she was intelligent enough to know that he wasn't exactly the model citizen and also light years away from being an average human. So she could learn much also from others, from ordinary representatives of humanity.

"I know. But sometimes it's nice to have company, right." John didn't give up.

Cameron nodded: "Yes."

Sarah chose this moment to interrupt: "I think that Cameron's right John. It wouldn't be good to have someone else around."

It seemed like the opposition, he received from both women, boosted John's determination. He straightened up and locked eyes with his mother: "You may be right mom. But I would like to have them with me. We had a nice week in the winter and I would prefer to spend more time with them. Maybe they're that touch of normality that keeps me sane." _Big stupid mouth_! John cringed the moment he'd said it and turned to immediately apologize to Cameron who looked like she'd swallowed something very sour. "Besides you of course, Cameron."

Sarah and Cameron looked at each other in recognition. John Connor's mind was set. Sarah could live with indisposed John Connor, as well as Cameron could, but they both still preferred to keep him in a good mood. Cameron nodded slightly to Sarah, who shrugged in resignation.

John naturally noticed their wordless communication and found himself trying not to smile as these two women, who meant world to him, and tried to come to some kind of mutual accord.

"OK, I'll call them later and ask if they'd like to come along." He paused for a second and added: "It's also possible that they wouldn't want to come. Or that they already have their own plans for vacation. If that's the case then I'll accept it."

After Cameron turned back to him, he gently took her hand and looked deep into her eyes. There was something they had to tell to his mother and he thought that right now it might just be the perfect moment to do it. He raised his eyebrows and swept his finger over her ring like a silent question and hoped that Cameron would understand it. Although she changed very much, the subtleties in human behavior were sometimes a mystery to her. But this time she obviously understood his unspoken question and shrugged slightly while tilting her head. He understood that she would accept his decision.

He turned to his mother and looked directly into her eyes: "There's something we have to tell you mom."

Ominous words, announcing something major. Sarah suspected what it would be and suddenly felt uneasy. Actually it was the same kind of trepidation as when she realized that T1000 is actually going to drive that 22 inch spike right through her shoulder kind of moment, but she tried not to show it.

"After we come back from this vacation, we're going to get married."

Sarah was expecting such information but it still seized her breath. No matter how she'd prepared herself for this moment it still took her breath away. Until now there was still a tiny glimmer of hope that they wouldn't actually pull the marriage through, but after this … She drew a ragged gulp of air and looked at her son: "You're still underage John. How are you going to solve this problem?"

John smiled at her: "I was hoping you'd give me your consent."

Sarah shook her head, but after seeing her son's suddenly crestfallen face, corrected quickly: "I didn't say no, John. I'll have to think about it." Then she looked at Cameron: "What about you? How are _you_ going to solve this problem?"

Cameron looked at John for a second before turning back to Sarah: "That's not going to be a problem at all. I still have my papers from 1999 and according to them I'm even older than John."

Sarah looked at her confused: "How is that even possible? As far as I know nothing dead goes through the TDE and papers are definitely nothing alive!"

Cameron smiled self assured: "I have my secret places to hide valuable things."

Sarah grinned back at her: "You always have a way out of the problem, don't you?"

"No, not always, but almost always," Cameron deadpanned with now deadly serious face.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea at all!" John's ears suddenly pricked up: "We could get some papers for me with my real birth date and I wouldn't need any consent from anyone." The smile almost split his face as he looked at Cameron and Sarah.

Sarah wasn't exactly thrilled upon his suggestion, but decided not to object now: "We'll see about the solution after we come back from this trip, OK?"

"But you don't oppose our marriage, right?" John asked her carefully just to make sure that she wouldn't stand in their way.

Sarah sighed deeply again and for a second her eyes darted between the two of them. They both looked at her expectantly; even Cameron seemed like she'd be hardly waiting to hear a 'yes' from her mother in law to-be. She looked just like a small child, eagerly awaiting something from its parents. _She's unbelievable! No one would ever say that she's a cyborg. So animated, so alive …_ The look of her daughter in law to-be almost made her smile but she managed to keep a straight face and answer: "No, I don't. I still don't think it's a wise idea, but I won't stand in your way. If you want to get married … well, then you should get married."

John's smiled wider: "Thanks mom! I really appreciate this." Suddenly he jumped from his seat and stepped over to Sarah, just to give her a kiss on her cheek. "I love you, mom."

Sarah was completely taken aback and almost missed how Cameron stood up too and stepped towards her. She was too stunned to react as Cameron bowed to her and gave her a kiss on the other cheek: "Thank you Sarah." It caused Sarah to sit dead still, not believing that the cyborg girl had done that. Lost for words, she could only nod.

TBC


	3. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the reviews._

_This chapter is beginning to turn the story into another direction than 'Wintertale', but still not too much._

_Special thanks again to Burnout'83 for his corrections, suggestions …_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 2  
**

"It looks much better than I thought it would." John stepped out of the cabin after briefly inspecting it. He wasn't the first one to enter it though. Cameron would never allow him to enter an unknown building first, so she checked the cabin for possible threats. She returned satisfied that everything was OK. However, she did not say anything about what she found inside. John was asking himself why, but her slightly mysterious smile and assumption that she didn't want to spoil his surprise were more than satisfactory for him. Well, now he knew why she hadn't said a thing. He turned to the rest of the company, waiting at their cars and smiled: "There are two bedrooms. I guess that one's for you mom … of course sharing with Derek … and the second one for Cameron and me." He looked at Tim and Andrea: "You two can stay in the living room. There are two couches that can be made into queen size beds. You'll have more than enough space."

Sarah shook her head: "I think that it would be better if Andrea and Tim take the other bedroom, while Derek and I remain in the living room."

John shrugged with a smug smile: "Suit yourself. I was just trying to be polite to older people." Ignoring his mother's scowl, he stepped to the car and pulled his and Cameron's bag out of the trunk, tossing them on the ground carelessly.

"You should be more careful with the bags, John." Cameron reprimanded him in a soft voice. "There are some things in there that could get damaged by tossing them around."

John smiled at her sheepishly: "Sorry! I'll take better care next time."

Cameron bowed to pick up her bag as John gently pushed her aside: "Let me make it up for my carelessness by carrying your bag too."

Cameron smiled at him and remembered how he insisted to carry her bag when they were leaving for their winter vacation. She wouldn't want to object him in front of their friends; besides … it wouldn't do any good, for he was obviously set on doing it and when he wanted to do something there was no use arguing with him. That much she learned in her time with him now as well as in the future too. The general John Connor could be stubborn and this John Connor was just the same. Additionally, it would provide a just punishment for his carelessness. _Just wait until he tries to pick my bag up!_ Cameron slightly smiled in anticipation of his reaction.

He picked up her bag and swayed slightly under its weight. _What the hell's in there? Did she empty the complete armory at home and took everything with her? It didn't seem so heavy when I pulled it out of the trunk! _He instantly regretted his decision to carry her bag. Cameron appeared to be fascinated by some ordinary trees at the opposite end of the clearing and didn't pay him any attention. Or was she just being smug? She was slightly smiling, so John decided that she was just being smug. After he picked up his bag too, he aimed himself towards the cabin and tried to enter it, but noticed that the entrance door was too narrow to allow him through with two bags. "Why the hell do they always make doors so narrow?" He murmured irritably, lifted his lighter bag in front of his body while almost dragging Cameron's bag behind him and entered the cabin.

Once inside he headed towards one of the bedrooms. He'd inspected the cabin before and already made the decision which bedroom would be theirs. He'd chosen one with a rather stunning view of the surrounding mountains. Best of all was the large king size bed. That had definitely swung his decision. The other bedroom had a smaller window, overlooking the forest and was equipped with two single beds. No chance they were having that.

Cameron followed him closely, but still sweeping the interior of the cabin carefully to make absolutely sure there were no threats to her John. After they entered the bedroom and John tossed their bags on the bed, which creaked in protest under the weight of Cameron's bag, she looked at him with that kind of innocence that would have broken a lesser man's resolve in just a few seconds: "I think I know why you chose this bedroom John."

John smiled back and put his arms around her waist to pull her closer: "Do you, honey? And what, according to your opinion made me chose this one?"

Cameron leaned forward to give him a fleeting kiss on his lips and whispered: "It's got a wonderful view." Then she leaned back in his embrace and her eyes flashed a mix of amusement, mischievousness and affection at him.

For a moment John was already inclined to believe her, but after he saw the sly twinkle in her eyes, he knew that she was joking. He accepted the game and answered with faked disappointment: "Only because of the view?"

Cameron tilted her head, turned her head to look through the window, glanced over the bed and studied him for few moments: "Well ... there's also the insignificant fact that it has a large king size bed that might have influenced your decision."

John leaned towards her and captured her lips with his own. After a short kiss, he leaned back and slapped himself on the forehead: "Of course! How could I forget something like that?" Then he shook his head and chuckled: "You're evil Cam! Have I told you before that you're evil?"

Cameron smiled at him slyly: "Since when? Last month you told me exactly 57 times John. Including now."

John cupped her cheek with his free hand, while keeping her embraced and nodded: "Then it's all right." After another gentle kiss on her lips, he let her out of one armed embrace and turned towards the bags: "I think we should unpack."

Cameron stopped him by holding his hand: "Let me do it. You can go and talk to Sarah about what plans she has for today."

"And why wouldn't you want me unpacking? I'd really like to help." John tried to appear put out but Cameron's blank stare let him know he'd failed miserably.

"I would like to find my things also after they have been unpacked. And if I let you do it I'm not sure if it would be the case." She grinned at him and gestured him to leave the room: "Go now! Get out and let me do it!"

John turned towards the door and shook his head in dismay: "Women! You're from another planet. You can never do anything right for them!" A pillow, carrying more kinetic energy than one launched by a human hand hit him on the back of his head causing him to stumble slightly. He turned back to see Cameron, who had a very mischievous and slightly dangerous expression on her face: "Now you're even trying to terminate me by throwing pillows at me. It won't work. I'm pillow proof!" Then he turned and fled out of the room laughing because he saw Cameron bowing to pick up another pillow.

After he entered the living room, John quietly watched his uncle for few moments. He was testing one of the couches by throwing himself on it and trying to bounce from it. _And they say that I'm supposed to be the teenager in this family?_ "I see that you're enjoying the couch testing Derek. Did it pass the test?"

Derek stopped bouncing, ignored the withering look he got from Sarah and turned to John: "It could be better, but it'll do for now."

Sarah sighed exasperatedly. _This was one of General Connor's finest resistance fighters? In which case, we're probably screwed_. "Oh god! It's like babysitting all over again!"

Derek shrugged it off with a deliberately goofy smile, saying more than any words.

John snorted to prevent himself from laughing out loud and turned to his mother: "Have you made any plans about our today's activities?"

Sarah nodded and beamed at him: "Sure! First we'll make a short round trip around the cabin to see what we have at disposal for the training."

John nodded. However, his suspicions flared up after seeing her beaming face and he asked carefully: "How short?"

Sarah pursed her lips, put a finger on them and looked up, like she would have to think about it. After a second she turned to John and shrugged: "I think that a short march, about six to seven hours would do as warm up on the first day."

John moaned: "I knew it! You're all here to kill me! Cameron's already tried, now you …"

Sarah shot up like she'd been bitten by a snake*: "WHAT? WHAT DID CAMERON DO?" Her hand was instantly inside the bag, searching for the gun.

John recognized his terrible slip and hastily grabbed his mother's arm: "STOP! I was only making fun! She threw a pillow at me for being a smart-ass!" _Man, I should have known by now that mom __has no concept of __fun when it comes to my safety!_

Sarah relaxed slowly and looked at John, who was sheepishly gazing at her, knowing that he made a really bad joke: "You should never, NEVER, joke with something like that! Do you understand John?" Her demanding voice showed John that she was not accepting any nonsense from him.

"Sure mom. Sorry, I was just trying to make a joke. But you should know by now that Cameron would never hurt me." He suddenly perked up. Yes, he made a bad joke, but his mother was still too paranoid when it came to Cameron. _Interesting: she really likes her, but when she thinks that my safety is endangered she forgets everything in an instant._

"I would rather die than do anything that could potentially harm John." Sarah and John twirled around to see Cameron standing in the door to their bedroom and staring at Sarah. On her face John clearly saw disappointment and slight expression of hurt.

Sarah swallowed and looked Cameron square in the eyes: "I'm sorry for overreacting Cameron. I know that you wouldn't hurt him."

Andrea, who was together with Tim unpacking their bags in the room, suddenly peeked through the door to see what was going on in the living room. Sarah's raised voice was enough for her to become curious. "Is everything OK?" Her clearly confused eyes shot from John to Sarah and to Cameron. While they were on winter vacation it never happened that Sarah would raise her voice.

John smiled at her: "Sure, everything's perfect. My mom is just in a need of vacation and can be sometimes short tempered. She'll get better, believe me!"

Andrea nodded, not looking quite persuaded, but retreated into their room nevertheless. She was obviously aware that Sarah and John needed some privacy to resolve the matter.

After she closed the door again, John sighed and looked at his mother: "Mom, you'll have to get rid of this paranoia; Cameron is here to stay and I really wouldn't want you two arguing. Please?"

Meanwhile Cameron stepped across the room to John and stood at his side. As Sarah looked at them, she was suddenly aware of how this scene resembled the one in the abandoned warehouse many months ago, after John reinserted Cameron's chip and pointed the gun at her and Derek. Just like then, they were now too standing close together, making the impression of being ready to defy the whole world, their body language telling her that they would never allow someone to even try coming between them.

Derek remained quiet during the whole scene. Before he could say anything, his mobile phone rang and he literally jumped up from the couch. After fishing his phone out of the pocket while dancing a strange dance, due to the buzzing and vibrating phone in his pocket, he checked the caller's ID and looked at John and Sarah apologetically. Shrugging, he exited the house to take the call outside in private, without any prying ears.

Sarah and John continued their small staring contest and only Cameron's hand on his arm calmed John down enough not to say anything more. He turned to her and smiled sheepishly.

The uncomfortable silence was broken by Derek, who returned hastily. "We've got a lead on K…" In last moment he remembered that there were two people in the house, who knew nothing of their occupation. He just gestured to the others they should follow him out of the cabin and after they were all out, he first made sure that Andrea and Tim were still in their room, before he began: "I've just got some information about Kaliba. One of their operation centers is not so very far away. In fact, it is less than 200 miles from here."

"And who did you get this information from? Who is out there to inform you about such things?" Sarah was her slightly paranoid normal self again and she was clearly not trusting Derek blindly, cutting him off before he could continue.

"Mom! Let him finish!" John nodded to his uncle to continue.

Derek nodded back: "I've told almost everything I know. There's just one more bit of information: It is highly probable that this is one of their research centers, specializing for their AI technology."

John pushed his tongue towards his cheek. After few seconds he stared back at Derek: "It would be the best if you and mom could go and check the information. But don't do anything stupid. Don't blow anything up, don't kill anyone. Just observe and gather as much information as possible."

"But maybe we will have to destroy this facility. You know it John: we cannot allow them to progress too far." Sarah sounded slightly offended that John assumed the leading role for himself without even considering her. She preferred the simple method: break in, plant explosive charges, detonate them, run. Gathering information on some potential Skynet lead without any intervention wasn't something she was too keen on doing, although she admitted that John was probably right. They had absolutely no information about the facility and going in with blazing guns would most probably end in disaster.

John looked at her in silence for few seconds obviously knowing what was going on in her mind and also knowing her good enough to see from her facial expression that she had problems accepting his leadership. _She'll have to get over it. It's time I start taking the weight from her shoulders and making my own decisions._ "I know that mom. But we cannot just blow everything that we suspect might have a valid link to Skynet up. If we want to win the war, we have to know more than our enemy. And by blowing things up we don't gather any useful information. So … I'd really like you two to try getting more information before we decide upon a course of action. And I want you both back in one piece, OK?"

Cameron looked at John with an expression he'd never seen on her face before; a mixture of awe and pride. What he didn't know; in this moment she was really proud of him. He'd come so far in such a short time! After he finished, she felt that she could support him: "John is right. We need more information on what is going on in the facility. He made the best decision."

Sarah, no matter how irritated she might have been, had to admit that John and Cameron were right. She nodded reluctantly: "OK John, we'll do it." Then she turned to Derek: "Do you have more information about the location of this facility?"

Derek, who was doing his best to look unimpressed by the discussion so far, nodded: "Yeah, it's southeast of Redding. I've got the exact location."

Cameron was listening carefully: "Where is it?"

Derek checked his cell phone again and gave her the requested data.

Cameron checked the location against her database and after few seconds she frowned: "That's in the middle of nowhere. Are you sure that your information is correct?"

John grinned at her reaction: "Cam, this is so not like you! So vague and unspecified." He noticed that Cameron threw him a dirty look and hurried to complete his commentary: "And I so love it!"

Cameron dropped the dirty look and smiled at him. Then she turned to Derek again: "There are no settlements in the vicinity of this location. If there really is a facility it's going to be very isolated and safe. You'll have problems remaining undetected."

Derek nodded: "I know. We'll try to stay in the cover and we won't push our luck."

Sarah wanted to comment, but decided silence was the best policy and she just nodded. It was happening; what she wanted to happen, and yet feared all the time was now fast becoming the reality; her son was beginning to take the responsibility for making decisions. She turned to John: "What about your training? We came here for a reason."

John reached for Cameron's hand and pulled her closer: "I think that Cameron is perfectly capable of organizing my training. After all … who trained me for the past few months? We'll stay here and follow our original plan."

Satisfied with his decision, Sarah smiled slightly and nodded. Then she turned to Derek: "So, it looks like we're a team again, Derek. Get your gear and whatever you need. We leave in ten minutes."

Derek saluted to Sarah mockingly: "Sure thing, ma'am. I'll be ready on time. Just make sure that you won't be late. Otherwise you could find yourself running after the car and gulping the dust."

Sarah looked at him with blank face and at the moment Derek thought she wouldn't react. But she clenched her fist and hit him hard in his upper arm. Then she turned away in silence and marched off towards the cabin.

Derek massaged the aching spot where Sarah's fist made contact with his arm and looked after her with surprised face: "What was that for?" He sounded slightly whiny.

John approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder: "You know perfectly well why she hit you. That's my mom, Sarah Connor." Then he turned to Cameron and stretched his arm towards her.

Cameron accepted it gladly and they turned to enter the cabin too. As she walked past Derek, who was still massaging his arm and gazing at the spot where he last saw Sarah Connor, she turned to him: "I thought you knew better than to challenge Sarah Connor." She winked at him wickedly and followed John.

Derek shot a withering look after her, but remained silent. He saw how she bonded with Sarah in last months and believed she'd probably follow the example Sarah gave her. If there was one thing he definitely didn't want to experience**, **he didn't want to find out how hard Cameron was able to punch. He'd seen her drive her fist through the wall and he could imagine it would be far more painful than what Sarah had inflicted on his arm. After John and Cameron disappeared into the cabin, he shook his head and muttered to himself: "I should remember never to mess with any Connor. I always get bruises." He followed them into the cabin to gather what he needed for the mission. Now that John gave him this mission, he felt like in old times in the future. His head was in the game he knew best.

"Don't be too gentle on him! He needs this training. He might have progressed in the last months, but he's still not on the level he should be," said Sarah, speaking to Cameron, who was standing at her side as she was trying to stow her bag in the almost full trunk of Derek's truck. "Damn! What did Derek take with? Everything he owns?" She cursed under breath after she finally managed to squeeze her bag into the free space after a few attempts and deploying perhaps slightly more force than was necessary the trunk closed shut. "There you go! Perfect fit!" She turned and gave Cameron a smile of satisfaction.

Cameron nodded like she was making an solemn oath or a binding pledge to her future mother in law: "I won't be gentle during the training. Besides … he's in much better physical shape than he used to be." She opened her mouth to continue, but Sarah cut her off with a devilish smile: "Yeah, but I bet you'll be more than gentle after the training, right?"

Cameron creased her forehead. She didn't understand Sarah's stating of the obvious. Of course she would be gentle to John after the training! "Of course! He's my fiancée after all."

Sarah's smile became wider and knowing: "Of course he is." She'd already opened her mouth to ask something, but hesitated. _No, I actually don't want to know if they've already made any arrangement about the marriage. Sheesh! Did they really have to tell me they'd get married after the vacation?_ She shook her head side to side and went to the car's passenger door. She grabbed the door handle and stopped for a second before she turned back to Cameron: "I trust you to take good care of him Cameron. And I don't want to hear anything about doing stupid things."

Cameron nodded seriously: "I would never do anything to endanger my John and I'll stop him before anything stupid."

When she heard Cameron's answer Sarah chuckled: "How did you know I was referring to John when I mentioned doing stupid things?"

"Because I don't do stupid things. John does." Cameron deadpanned and it only made Sarah chuckle more. She cast a last look at Cameron and shook her head again: "You really have changed." Sarah opened the door and climbed into the car, where Derek was already waiting. She closed the door and turned towards Cameron. John came over and joined her casually putting his hand around her waist. Seeing them there, the rocks in the storm, Sarah lifted her hand and waved to them. "Bye! See you in few days. Be good!"

"Bye, mom. Make it good and don't challenge your luck. Remember … I want you both back in one piece!" John waved back and was surprised when he saw Cameron waving his mother goodbye. They looked after the car. It was disappearing in a cloud of dust and John turned to his fiancé, drew her into him and kissed her passionately. After they broke the kiss, he grinned at her: "And what are we going to do now, Cam?"

"Start you training!" Deadpanned Cameron and looked at him seriously. "I promised Sarah I'd make sure that you would follow the original plan."

John made a sad face: "You're no fun at all, Cam! You're turning into my mother."

"That's highly improbable. I am Cameron Phillips and cannot turn into Sarah Connor. I'm not a shape shifter." Cameron's voice was flat and her expression unreadable.

"Oh, come on, Cam! I didn't mean it lit…" John trailed off as he saw how faint glow of pride began to form on Cameron's face. He sighed and shook his head, while looking at the ground and shuffling his foot. _Did I deserve it?_

"Got you again! Going to have to wise-up here John!" Cameron said, satisfied ather successful joke.

Cameron glanced to her left and saw how Tim rounded the corner of the cabin and came towards them: "Hey guys, we've found some interesting things in the shed." John glared at him, annoyed at the interruption, but Cameron's gentle touch caused him to calm down immediately.

"Yeah, there's complete climbing gear in there for four persons and all the ropes you might need." Andrea followed her brother and explained his announcement in her usual cheerful voice.

John's face lit up. He'd always been interested in climbing and if they had the gear he wanted to do it. His eyes swept over the mountains that surrounded the cabin and began picking out what he imagined might be potential routes. Then he turned to Cameron. She clearly knew what was going on in his head, when John said brightly: "We could try some climbing, Cam! It would be so cool!"

Cameron ,who could proficiently scale a one thousand yard high concrete wall, using finger-holds only spiders and various adapted rodents would dare to attempt, and then go on to storm a gun emplacement at the summit of her climb, narrowed her eyes at John: "I don't think that is a good idea. It's potentially lethal and you have absolutely no experience." From her voice it was obvious that she was less than thrilled and enamored with his idea.

But John already made his decision and would use all his skills to persuade Cameron to go rock climbing. He actually didn't want to go into some extreme directions; he just wanted to try it. The climbers always fascinated him as he saw them climbing up the mountain like spiders and he always asked himself how must it be like high above the ground in the middle of a vertical rock, knowing that the only way to get up is to use everything that your body is capable of. John tried to appear as charming, as Connors can, when they want something and quite often not having fully thought through what is involved in getting or acquiring what they think they want when their impulse-strategic planning ratio was out of balance, as it usually was. Human partners would not be able to deal rationally enough with this aspect of John's nature to prevent a negative outcome, he could be very persuasive.

Cameron saw right through his efforts to convince her and frowned warily. She nearly laughed when she saw John's not-so -good try at applying 'her' puppy dog look. It didn't suit him and she wasn't convinced he wasn't being ironic. Cameron didn't want to allow him to go climbing. She turned serious again. "I still don't think that it's a good idea."

Andrea noticed the silent battle between John and Cameron and decided to propose something altogether different. She coughed to get their attention and after everybody turned to look into her direction, she straightened up: "I have another idea. We've seen that there's a river quite near and as we drove through the last village, I saw them organizing rafting. Why don't we go rafting instead of climbing some boring rocks?"

John could tell Cameron wasn't exactly thrilled over this suggestion either. _No wonder! The best way to reveal her true nature is to throw her into whitewater and leave her to save herself._ He suddenly felt sorry for her and just wanted to decline the offer politely, but lost to Cameron, who reacted much faster.

"It's really an interesting idea, but I'll have to decline it. I really am not into rafting or anything that has to do with floating down the river." She smiled at Andrea politely, but her voice allowed no doubts that she really meant what she said.

But Andrea wasn't that easy to shake off : "I'm sure you'd like it. It's so cool. I've already done it and it's thrilling."

Cameron maintained her smile, but her eyes got a little colder: "Thank you Andrea, but I'm really not going."

John saw the chance to help his fiancée and chimed in: "Really, Andrea, we are both not exactly watery types and we're not interested in rafting. But that doesn't mean that you two must stay here. Go and enjoy the day, while we're going to go rock climbing." He winked to Cameron, who suddenly looked annoyed, but didn't object in front of their friends.

Tim understood John perfectly and he nudged his sister: "Yeah, John's right. Let's go and enjoy it while they're doing something else. Like rock climbing." He ironically ended his advice and winked to John.

Although John understood perfectly what Tim meant, he didn't react and didn't answer anything. Tim was, however, wrong; for in this specific moment he really wanted to go climbing and not to be engaged in some other activities which would require him and Cameron getting undressed and making use of the big bed in their room. Well, at least not right now, but after they'd return from the climbing trip …

Andrea this time caught the meaning of her brother's suggestion and nodded: "OK, then we'll go back to the village. It's not that far and we'll be there in no time. Are you really going climbing?" She looked at John questioningly, but still noticing Cameron's slightly annoyed look.

John nodded vigorously: "Absolutely!"

Andrea smiled slyly at him: "Even though Cameron isn't thrilled?"

John looked at Cameron briefly and smiled: "Even though she's not thrilled. I think I can persuade her into doing it." Cameron had a very dark expression spreading across her beautiful face, in fact it was that moment John realized Cameron appeared her most stunningly beautiful when she was on the verge of getting angry with him .He tried not to look to hard at her ,she could win most arguments with him without resorting to words, and right now John Connor was determined to go climbing.

Tim noticed it was time they should leave. It was more than obvious that Cameron and John will have words to exchange about rock climbing. "Well, we're off then. See you (later) when we come back." Tim said cheerily and both he and Andrea left John and Cameron to their discussion.

After the siblings left, Cameron turned to John, but was, just as she opened her mouth to speak, she was cut off by John: "I'm sorry Cam. I may have been too selfish, but I would really like to try. After all," he winked at her and bowed slightly towards her, "you will be there to make sure everything's going to be OK, won't you?"

Cameron fixed him with her eyes and searched his face to see if he really meant it. She couldn't find any proof to suggest otherwise. After few long seconds she let out an all too human sigh and the lines her face hardened to a serious scowl: "I still don't like it John. You could easily get hurt."

John realized he was on the verge of a victory and gently cupped her cheek with his hand: "I am well aware of the dangers, Cam. But I will be living dangerously … hell, I AM living dangerously and I have to come to terms with such life." He bowed to her and kissed her lightly: "Would you accompany me and make sure that everything goes as planned? Please?"

Cameron leaned into his palm and accepted his lips gladly. After his plea, she finally smiled at him: "How is it possible that you come up with such stupid things and even convince me to help you doing them? Yes, I will accompany you, but I warn you …" She straightened up and lifted her finger like she'd be talking to a small child. "I'm going to go first and make sure that nothing happens to you. And we are not going to climb all the way up, maybe just up to the ledge, and it's going to be a safe route, okay?" She gazed at him seriously, awaiting his answer.

John smiled at her, proud of himself that he managed to convince her and nodded: "Absolutely, Cam. Now, let's go and gather the gear." He reached for her hand and pulled her towards the shed with the climbing gear.

TBC


	4. Chapter 3

_Thanks to all of you who took your time to review the previous chapter. _

_This chapter definitely turns the story away from its prequel. Nevertheless, I hope you'll like it. It wasn't easy to write, especially because of the fact that I'm not really familiar with English phrases and item names for the sports art, Cameron and John are trying in this chapter. I hope I got them right._

_This chapter is unbetaed again, so there are definitely some stupid mistakes in it, but they are all mine._

* * *

**Chapter 3  
**

"Man, I had no idea that this equipment is so heavy." John puffed as they finally reached the mountain face where, according to the guide, which Cameron found god knows where, there were some easier directions, suitable also for beginners. After convincing Cameron to go climbing, he even tried to persuade her to try a more difficult ascend, reaching as far as 5.9 grade but this time Cameron would not budge an inch and stopped his further efforts stating clearly that if he wanted to go climbing with her they would stay in the safe area of 5.2 or maximum 5.3 grade. He soon realized that she would not change her mind and accepted her condition. _Sometimes it's better to be satisfied with what you can get instead of dreaming of something that's out of your reach. Or, in case of a stubborn cyborg … don't try to persuade her into something she decided not to do._

Cameron looked at him exactly like he imagined she would have looked at some complaining kid: "You wanted to go climbing, not me. Climbing is not only going up the rock, it's also carrying your equipment all the way." She grinned at him slightly.

John huffed a little, while he tried to rearrange his load of necessary equipment: many bolts, complete set of harness, a large roll of climbing rope over his right shoulder, a smaller roll of safety rope over his left shoulder, a complete set of spring loaded cams, nuts, quickdraws, belay devices, anchors and everything else that he thought would be necessary for his climbing experience. He took off his helm and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It's easy for you to talk! You are much stronger than I am." He complained and his eyes glided over Cameron, who was also carrying everything necessary, but she still looked elegant, perked up like a candle and not sweating at all.

Cameron's smile grew wider: "I just told you: it was your decision to go climbing. If you want the complete experience, you get to carry everything first. You can't have only the goodies." From her face John could clearly see, that she enjoyed this.

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" He sighed while still trying to find better position for the heavy equipment over his shoulders, which already ached a bit.

Cameron finally broke out into suppressed giggles and needed a second to get them under control: "Yes John, I am. But you earned it with your stubbornness."

John's face finally lost its sulky expression and he smiled at his fiancée. "OK, I admit that I didn't expect it to look like this. In my mind I only had the picture of climbing up the vertical rock and feeling like a bird. I never thought that there's hard work involved before you can go up the mountain."

Cameron stepped to him, very closely, and looked into his eyes with vaguely amused face: "But you have to learn it the hard way, don't you?" She gave him a quick peck on his lips, causing him to break into a wide smile and trying to envelop her in embrace, but she was too fast and before his arms rose she was already too far away from him. "You should now concentrate on the task at hand, John. This is the starting point of our tour. You should lay off all the gear and prepare for the climb." Even while talking, she put down her equipment and arranged it neatly on the ground.

"Now you tell me! I could have taken this burden off my shoulders before we started the chit-chat." He tried to look sullen, but failed upon seeing Cameron's bright face and her beautiful eyes, gazing at him lovingly. With a relieved sigh, he began to take off all of his equipment and tossing it on the ground. But before he finished his doing, he cast a look at Cameron and noticed her frowned face, looking at him annoyed. In a second he realized that he was again tossing everything carelessly on the ground, while her gear was neatly arranged. He grinned at her sheepishly and bent over to rearrange his scattered items.

After he reached, according to his standards, a satisfactory arrangement, he looked up at Cameron again and noticed her one sided smile: "What? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head: "No, I'm just thinking that it's funny how I only look at you and you know what I mean." Her lips curled slowly into a full smile.

"Yeah, you seem to have that effect on me." John confirmed with a grin. Then he turned to look at his climbing gear and swept over it with his hand: "I guess I'll need all of it, right?"

Cameron nodded and bowed to take her harness: "First, put this on. I'm not allowing you to go anywhere near the rock without it." Her eyes told him that she really meant it, so he nodded and took his harness and began to turn it around in his hands, not really knowing how to put it on. But, being the famous stubborn John Connor, he absolutely didn't want to ask Cameron how was it supposed to be done. He looked at her from the corner of the eye and saw that she already put on hers. Now he knew exactly how to do it and managed to put his on quickly without revealing to her that he had to copy her every move. Then he turned towards Cameron, who was already picking up other pieces of equipment and hanging them on her belt. He followed her example and very soon they both looked like experienced climbers, ready to start their climb. _How the looks can deceive … _He quietly snorted at that thought.

Cameron eyed him carefully and after a while she realized that everything was OK, so she smiled at him: "I think that you're ready, John."

Suddenly John remembered that he didn't check the gear before they left the cabin and slapped his forehead: "Fool! I forgot to check the gear before! Now I'll have to take it off again!" He grabbed the first piece to take it off again for thorough inspection, but a small hand grabbed his arm firmly.

"I've checked every single item before. Everything's OK." Cameron stopped him before he would begin taking all the equipment off again.

He smiled at her broadly: "And as I know you, you've been more that thorough, right?"

Cameron nodded and cupped his cheek with her hand: "Yes. I can't let anything happen to you." Then she took a step back and looked at the mountain side, searching for the most appropriate direction. After few seconds she noticed a small ledge about 60 feet above the ground and quickly calculated that it would be big enough for both of them. The ascent to it looked like fairly simple climb and she decided that they should try it.

"There … over the scree slope." She pointed with her outstretched arm towards the entry point to show it to John. "There's our starting point." Her arm slowly moved up until she pointed at the ledge: "And there's where we'll rest and decide if you're able to go further up."

"Of course I'll be up to!" John objected a little put off, although he knew that Cameron was only worried for his safety.

Cameron shrugged: "We'll see. Maybe you'll find climbing not as overwhelming as you think now. It's not a walk in the park." Then she started towards the point where they would start climbing up the mountain. It was about 600 feet away from them, overlying a long, steep scree slope, which ran down into a hole about 100 feet deep. She chose her step carefully not to slide down the slope. She made a quick check of the perimeter, paying special attention to the forest on the far rim of the slope. It was unusually thick, consisting mostly of juniper and spruce, making it quite difficult to come through without a trail being cut in. After few seconds she concluded that there were no threats in the vicinity and concentrated on the rock before her.

John knew what she was doing as her head slowly swiveled from side to side and felt a wave of thankfulness sweeping over him. _She's always looking out for me. What have I done to deserve such a faithful and reliable partner? She's the best!_ He knew better than to interrupt her doing, although he was sure it wouldn't bother her. If anyone was capable of multitasking, then it was her, his Cameron. He followed her across the slope and as his look fell down into the hole where the scree ended, a thought crossed his mind that it wouldn't be exactly the best option to fall and roll all the way down the slope into the pit. The bottom was dotted with big boulders and between them were massive heaps of intertwined branches, fallen or broken off from the trees, overlaying almost vertical back wall of the pit. _Probably remnants of snow avalanches in the winter. Unbelievable how powerful the nature can be._ As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he quickly averted his eyes from it and concentrated on his steps, trying to follow exactly in Cameron's ones. Cameron knew better than him how to come over such treacherous terrain without sliding down.

After few minutes they reached their starting point and as they stopped, John looked up the mountain and commented: "OK, for the record: I admit that you were right, Cam."

Cameron looked at him slightly confused: "About what?"

"That it would be too difficult if I'd insisted on grade 5.9. What grade is this direction?"

"5.2." Cameron answered laconically, but her lips did curl up almost unnoticeable upon hearing John's confession.

"Geez! It looks absolutely vertical! How does then 5.9 looks like?" John sighed in awe.

"Steeper." Cameron's answer was again quite the basic and shortest one.

"Does it get any steeper?" John couldn't believe.

"Yes. Without anything to hold at." Cameron maintained her poker face.

John finally turned his head to face her and grinned: "Payback's a bitch, right?"

"Yes." Cameron would not budge from her shortest possible answers, but the smallest tug at the corners of her lips revealed to John that she was enjoying this conversation all too much for his taste.

He suddenly bowed to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek: "I love you too." His voice was mockingly sarcastic, but at the same time loving.

If his gesture affected Cameron, she didn't allow him to see it. She turned towards him and stared at him blankly: "Are you ready John?"

"As I'll ever be," answered John and in that very moment he felt a small wave of regret. _Maybe this wasn't such a splendid idea after all? Maybe we should just do something else, like running through the forest? _But he dismissed such doubts immediately. He wanted it, he got it and now he's going to enjoy it!

Cameron's face finally lost its blank expression and he could see a clear worry in her eyes, staring at him: "John … please, be careful!"

John noticed her inner turmoil and suddenly became serious. He pulled her into loose embrace and kissed her on the lips: "I promise to be the most careful climber ever."

Her eyes gazed at him thoughtfully and after few seconds she launched herself at him and kissed him passionately. After they broke the kiss, with John gasping for air and trying to get rid of slight dizziness, resulting from the unfolded passion, he looked at her smiling: "What was that for?"

"Because I wanted to do it. Because I love you. And to make sure you'd really be careful." Cameron's voice was quivering slightly.

"How could I not be careful? When I have so much to look forward to … a lifetime with you." John whispered and held her gaze. After a minute, he leaned back and sighed: "As much as I'd like to stay like this forever, we are here for a reason. So … let's get started, shall we?"

Cameron nodded and stepped towards the rock. But before she made a first step on it, she turned back to John: "I'll go up to the ledge and secure you. I'll call you when I'm prepared."

John nodded. He was already feeling the first rush of adrenaline and felt anxiousness, but he knew that Cameron would never forgive him should he not follow her advice. Not only that … he knew that he was no match for her in such matters.

While his mind reeled over such issues, Cameron began her ascent with ease. She had already chosen and marked all possible grips and she only followed the trajectory, she plotted before, up the rock. There were already anchors and bolts in the rock from earlier ascents which she used to fix the rope after checking them for their stability.

John was watching his fiancée with awe. She appeared to him like a giant elegant spider, smoothly gliding up the rock, making it seem like the simplest thing on this planet. She never once slipped, she always found the right grip and she advanced steadily, with a pace that would put the fastest climbers in shame. She stopped only when she had to fix the rope on one of the anchors. In a little more than two minutes she already reached the ledge which she chose for her first and maybe even the last stop and positioned herself on it, so that she could prop herself against the rock and put the rope around her back. After she was satisfied with her position, she threw him the rope.

"OK John, tie the rope to the harness and then you can come up!" Her voice echoed from the steep rocks and for a moment it even silenced the cries of jackdaws, circling over them. But they resumed their hungry calls only few seconds later.

"Coming!" John answered and took the rope, knotted it to his harness and prepared to start. Earlier he watched which grips Cameron used to get up and he tried to use the same ones. First few were relatively simple, but it sooner got more difficult. He felt how his fingers clutched around a particularly small grip, while his foot rested on another, threatening to slip any second. "Damn! This is definitely not as easy as I imagined! I should have worked out a little more!" He pressed through clenched teeth. He was strong, but climbing required another kind of strength: powerful fingers and wrists as well as toes and that were the issues John definitely didn't work on during his trainings. Then he remembered how easily Cameron made it up the wall and his stubbornness took over: "I'll make it! One way or another, I'll make it up to Cam."

"John? Everything all right?" Cameron's voice echoed again and he could swear to have heard worry in it.

"Yeah! I'm just getting used to it. It's a piece of cake!" He tried to make a joke, but noticed even himself that it sounded absolutely lame. He stopped for a second, leaned his forehead against the rock and panted quietly.

"Don't make stupid jokes, John! It's enough that you make stupid things!" Cameron's voice floated towards him, this time evidently laced with worry and annoyance.

"Sorry, Cam! I know that it was a bad one." He clutched at the grips fiercely and leaned his head back to look up. He could see Cameron's head, leaning over the edge of the ledge and her face, looking down at him. _Yeah, I was right. She's definitely worried._ "Don't worry Cam, everything's OK. I'm just not as fast as you."

After letting out few more pants, more as a relief than the need, he finally concentrated on climbing again and in few minutes, although more than five times the time Cameron needed for her ascent up to the ledge, he was about 35 feet above the starting point. By now he definitely realized that rock climbing wasn't as easy as it seemed and he reached the decision that it will not become his favorite activity in the foreseeable future. In fact, it was something he wasn't keen on repeating ever again. The adrenaline kept him on move and he was even beginning to enjoy the fact that he managed to beat his own fears and doubts, but it didn't change his mind. He was about half way up to the ledge where Cameron carefully and still worried waited for him, staring at him like a hawk. She took good care that the rope was constantly strained enough, holding it in her powerful hands. With her strength she wouldn't need to put it around her back, but she liked to keep up the appearance for John.

He grabbed at the next grip and eased a bit to relax his muscles for a while. He just leaned his head backwards to look at his love, patiently waiting for him up above as a screeching sound penetrated his mind. Before he could detect and catalogue it, he felt how the small grip he was holding onto broke off and he lost balance and toppled backwards. He lost footing and his other hand, clutching to the rope was suddenly overburdened and the rope slipped through his desperately clenched fist. In a matter of a second, he found himself falling down the rock, just to be abruptly stopped a second later. A violent pull at his harness caused him to grunt in pain and surprise and after his head cleared a bit, he realized that he was dangling on the rope about 25 feet over the scree slope. His fall hadn't been the longest one, but it nevertheless caused him to feel dizzy and a pain in his chest and back underlined that he was still here only because of the harness, which on the other hand squeezed his chest mightily. The fact that his climbing route wasn't directly aimed towards the ledge, but set a little aside, caused that he was now dangling on the rope like a pendulum. He could hear Cameron's cries but needed a second to get his head back in the game. Then he looked up and saw Cameron's panicked face, leaning over the ledge, while she was still trying to steady the rope.

"Oh shit!" He didn't even know that he said it aloud. In instant he regretted not to have listened to Cameron and insisted on going rock climbing instead. "This is SO not good!" He was still talking aloud.

"JOHN! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!" Cameron screamed at the top of her lungs. _Wait! Does she have lungs at all?_ It struck him that it was really bad timing for such idiotic thoughts, but his brain was obviously still working under shock from the fall

He shook his head slightly, afraid that, should he overdo it, he could begin to swing even more. In the next moment he crashed against the rock and grunted again in pain. He tried to grab at something with his hands, but he already bounced off the mountainside and only empty air was there where his hands were frantically trying to get a grip at something, at anything. _Concentrate John! You have to stay calm and concentrated! Get a hold at something!_

"JOOOHN!" Cameron's voice was, if it was even possible, additionally gaining on volume and now she was already screaming, while she still fought with the rope. Until she could steady John she wouldn't be able to pull him up. As she now looked along the rope, she suddenly felt a wave of panic sweeping over her. Just above John, there was a small riff in the rock and the rope was furiously rubbing against it. The edge of the rock riff looked extremely sharp and she could see that the rope already began to tear. "DON'T MOVE JOHN! THE ROPE IS TEARING! STAY COMPLETELY STILL!" She screamed and felt how her mind was slowly beginning to panic. Her John was helplessly dangling on the rope which threatened to tear every second and she was unable to do anything but scream and wait until he steadied enough for her to pull him up. If the rope wouldn't tear before, that is!

"Yeah, Cam, I'm all right. I'll try to be as still as possible." John finally managed to answer her. He tried to sound reassuring, but fear could clearly be heard in his voice. Cameron's information that the rope was tearing sent cold shivers down his spine and as he looked up he could see that it was true. Just about 6 feet above him the rope was rubbing against a sharp edge and tearing visibly more with each passing second. Strings of woven material were slowly tearing off and the rope was already cut down to the half of its diameter. He gazed at it and knew that he couldn't do a damn thing but wait and hope. He tried to reach the rock with his hands and feet, but he was still too far away and swinging too much to succeed.

Cameron finally managed to steady the rope enough and began to pull at it carefully. She was afraid that it might tear, should she be too forceful. But just as she tried to pull at it gently, a sharp pang announced that the rope tore off completely. As she saw the tattered end of the rope, relieved of its burden, flying up towards her, a terrifying scream, full of anguish and fear left her lips.

Seconds before the rope tore off, John finally managed to steady himself by propping against the rock with his legs. He felt how he was lifted a bit and looked up in anticipation to be able to help Cameron lift him up as he heard a pang and he began falling. He heard an indescribable scream and he only vaguely recognized the voice as Cameron's. In the moment as he started falling, he felt like time would slow down to a crawling speed. In a second he saw everything clearly, he relived past few months in a brief moment, remembering every detail of their winter vacation, remembering every single detail of Cameron's face, every single feature of her perfect body. He didn't hear the screeching sound of the anchors, being pulled out of the rock; he didn't even feel the sharp tugs at his harness as the failing anchors stopped his fall for a split second before giving in.

_It can't end like this! It simply can't!_ Besides Cameron's face this was the only thought that was on his mind. He felt the rush of wind against his skin, his hair fluttered in the airstream, he heard Cameron screaming like he never heard anyone screaming before. "I'm sorry, I love you." Without consciously knowing he screamed these words out just before he crashed.

Cameron was for the first time in her existence completely lost in her terror. She screamed and only barely remembered to hold tight to the rock, not to fall down too. A small piece of her mind, the machine part, remained calm and told her that she must not fall. Only if she stayed here and then descended to John, would she be able to help him, should he be lucky enough to survive the gruesome fall. The same part also told her that he wasn't that high and that his chances of surviving the fall were quite good. He was falling towards inclined scree slope and that rose his survival chances significatnly. Then she heard John screaming that he loved her and for a second she was lost in her panic again. Immediately after his scream, she heard a loud thud as John hit the slope, his pained cry and then sound of human body, rolling down the slope, accompanied by screams of pain, but only few seconds later the tumbling of a body and rattling of the scree were the only sounds that she could hear. Regardless the terror that got her tightly in its claws, she managed to realize that John obviously survived the fall, otherwise he wouldn't scream. Afterwards he apparently lost consciousness. She bowed to look down just in time to see John's body tumbling down into the pit uncontrolled and another wave of fear almost pushed her off the ledge. However, there was still the chance that he'd be OK. _He has to be OK, he simply has! I can't lose him!_

After screaming out his last words, John crashed on the top of the scree slope. He hit the ground with his feet first, felt how both bones in his left leg snapped and screamed in excruciating pain. He toppled backwards and hit the ground with the back of his head. A sharp pain like he'd been stabbed with a large sword in the head penetrated his head and after a turn or two, after few pained cries, the darkness claimed his consciousness. He didn't feel how his body tumbled down the scree slope uncontrolled. He fell in the same pit he was looking at before. He didn't feel anymore how few of his ribs broke. He didn't feel how his head crashed against the many rocks and didn't know that only the helmet prevented his skull from cracking. He was lucky not to witness anything of what happened to him.

Cameron wasn't that lucky. She saw his seemingly lifeless body landing at the bottom of the pit. She saw how he remained there lying unmoving like a broken puppet.

Not a second after John's body came to rest at the end of the slope she was already scrambling down the mountain. She had to suppress the urge to simply jump down. No matter the fact that she was a cyborg, the 60 feet fall to the ground was still quite a distance and she would definitely suffer some severe damage to her legs and wouldn't be able to help John. She climbed down as fast as she could and as she was still about 20 feet above the ground, she pushed herself from the rock and turned around her axis in the air to jump the rest of the distance to the slope.

She landed heavily on her feet and felt how the servos in her legs almost gave up to the forces for which they weren't designed. Her feet buried themselves deep into the scree and she had to use all her abilities to remain in upright position. Of course she slipped, but she used the momentum to simply run down the slope. She didn't care how she will stop at the bottom of the pit. Only John mattered, only his life was important.

She ran the distance to the bottom of the pit in only few seconds with John's battered body in the center of her attention all the time. She gained such a momentum and speed, that she wasn't able to stop at the bottom. So she simply chose the biggest boulder in there and crashed into it to stop her run. Even though she was a machine, she let out a grunt as she crashed into the rock, ten times her size and almost overturned it.

She didn't care for the cuts in her face; she didn't notice that she almost peeled off the skin on her right hand. She didn't leave John's body out of her sight and in the next instant she was already kneeling by his side and scanning him.

If someone would say that Cameron was a religious person … well, that would be completely incorrect assumption. She didn't care about the religion, about god. But if you'd ask her something about religion … you'd get very correct answers. Her knowledge in this area was very extensive and thorough. But at this moment she suddenly found herself praying to some divine force to make her John live, to make him OK. She had absolutely no clue where such ideas came from; possibly from the many TV shows and movies that she used to watch in the night hours before she began her relationship with John. Ever since they came together, she spent her nights in John's bed, watching over him, enjoying the fact that she was always able to calm him down when he experienced one of his nightmares again.

She quickly checked John and sighed relieved after she realized that he was still alive. But he was in a very bad condition: tibia and fibula in his left leg were broken, he broke four ribs and he suffered a severe head trauma. His life signs were stable, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have suffered any internal injuries. She couldn't detect any, but she could be wrong. She measured his pulse and blood pressure and they were in expected limits, giving her vague reassurance that there were no heavy, life threatening, internal injuries. However he was unconscious and her first task was to bring him back to the cabin.

But before she could do anything, she had to immobilize his left leg to avoid any possible complications and further damage to it. She realized that she could use some branches from the spruce trees as provisional help until she could make it right. She looked back down at John, put her hand on his bruised cheek and kissed him lightly on his bloodied lips: "I'll be right back John."

She didn't understand why she talked to him while he was unconscious and couldn't hear her, but she simply felt the urge to do it. At the same time she felt how her eyes were getting wet, but sniffed the tears back and wiped the eyes with the back of her hand. Now was not the time to cry, now was the time to handle, to save his life. She got up and looked around to find some appropriate branches to immobilize his leg and saw the heaps, which John noticed before from above, lying between the boulders at the bottom of the pit. She quickly went over to one of them and as she reached it, she analyzed it for a second to find the most suitable ones. After she made her selection, she bowed and pulled four almost straight branches from the heap, not paying attention to the others.

After returning to John, she quickly repositioned him so that she was able to immobilize his leg. But before she began working, she again reached for his cheek and stroked it gently. "I'm so sorry John. I promised I'd never let anything happen to you and now …" She sniffed lightly and turned her attention to his leg. She snapped the branches so that they were of right length and positioned them so that they would offer his broken bones some support. After she was satisfied with their positions, she took the rest of the safety rope, which she still carried over her shoulders and wound it around John's leg. _Good that he's unconscious. I don't want him to suffer the pain, but this would hurt him a lot._

Few minutes later she was satisfied with how she managed to immobilize his leg. She checked his vitals again and noticed no change. She felt strangely relieved and let out a quiet sigh.

For a second she gazed at John's battered and bruised face, still blaming herself for what happened to him, although she knew perfectly well that it was just an accident. _I should have noticed the riff in the rock as I was going up! I should have been able to prevent this!_ She quickly dismissed such thoughts. She should help John first! Then she turned her look upwards and tried to find the best way up the scree slope.

Finding no traces of any trails up the slope and realizing that the rims of the abyss they were in were impassable, she decided to go straight up the scree. She carefully picked John up, cradled him like a small baby and began her ascent. Regardless the fact that she was a cyborg and couldn't get tired, she quickly realized that it would be a difficult way up. For each two steps that she made upwards, she slipped one step downwards on the rolling stones. But she continued with unwavering, steady pace and few minutes later she was already at the point, where they started their climbing adventure. She looked at John's face quickly and noticed that his condition didn't change. He was still unconscious and his vitals were still in expected limits.

She set off towards the forest, aiming for the trail they came up before. Now she could go faster and she began to run, however not as fast as she could, for she was afraid to hurt John even more.

As soon as she approached the forest, she suddenly registered something odd. All the birds that were before singing like crazy fell silent in an instant. That could mean only one thing: there was someone in the forest. She stopped abruptly and tried to scan the surroundings but in the moment she stopped, she heard a hiss and two objects hit her in her hip. She instantly recognized them as electrodes of the taser and knew she should pull them out immediately but before she could react, she felt a jolt of electrical charge sent through them and her systems began to shut down. She fell to her knees and toppled over on her face, burying John, whom she still cradled in her arms, under her.

TBC


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4  
**

"Are you absolutely sure that it's safe?" Andrea looked at their guide worriedly, but after only a second her eyes flickered to the river again. Exactly opposite to where they were standing on the river bank, in the middle of the riverbed, the water rushed through big rapids with a neck breaking speed with white foam covering the surface and spraying the boulders, standing there like sentinels, unwavering against the water. The spray of water, breaking against them, caused the mist that covered the whole area and she could swear that she even saw the rainbow, spanning over the rapids.

"Absolutely, miss. We're not going over there." The guide pointed towards the rapids that still captured Andrea's gaze, understanding perfectly what was bothering her. "We're going downstream and there are no such rapids." He smiled encouragingly to Andrea, who finally managed to tear her eyes from the whitewater and looked at guide with concern written all over her face.

"Come on, sis! You proposed it and now you're getting cold feet? Besides … weren't you the one to told everyone who was willing to listen to you, that you already tried rafting and that it was hilarious?" Tim teased his sister and earned himself a dirty look that made him smile at her in satisfaction for getting to her again.

"Sure I proposed it. But that was before I saw the river. It's wild! And yes, I did it before, but that was on some really calm water and not like here!" Andrea protested and looked at the rapids again with eyes, which clearly showed her fear, while her arm pointed towards them slightly shakily.

"I assure you miss, everything's going to be all right. The river downstream is much calmer and there are no dangers lurking in the riverbed. Even if someone falls in the water, which, I have to say, is always the consequence of their personal mistake, there's no problems of getting them out of it. There are no hidden boulders under water, no vortexes or other dangerous spots." The guide smiled at her encouragingly, trying to reassure her.

"No one had ever been hurt?" Andrea wanted another confirmation before she would enter the raft.

"Well, apart from being wet … no." The guide confirmed and smiled at her. "Now, if you please … I can't let all the others wait." His voice got a barely noticeable note of impatience. He was already running late on the schedule and another group of adrenaline seekers was already preparing to start their adventure. If he wanted to bring them all safely downstream to their final location, he'd have to start very soon, otherwise they could be too close to another group.

"You look like a small scared penguin, sis!" Tim joked again and reaped a very dirty look from Andrea, but no verbal answer. She looked at the raft on which's edges eight people already sat and waited for the last three; Tim, the guide and herself. She didn't miss the looks some of them were giving her: she was obviously the one to cause troubles and their eyes revealed their impatience. She took a sharp breath and straightened up: "OK, let's go." She sounded absolutely determined to do it.

The guide let out a relieved sigh and offered her his hand to help her getting on the raft. She accepted it without hesitation and took her position on the edge of the raft, grabbed her paddle and looked around. In the meantime Tim also took his place immediately behind her and now he leaned forward and whispered into her ear: "Just hook your feet under the slings well and everything's going to be fine." The guide already explained them the basics of how to stay in the raft.

Andrea nodded stiffly, hooked her feet under the ropes, attached to the bottom of the raft and squeezed the paddle so tight that her knuckles instantly turned white.

Tim noticed it and grinned while leaning towards her again: "The paddle didn't do anything to deserve such punishment, sis. Don't squeeze it so tightly, you'll break it!" He quickly leaned back to avoid possible revenge from his sister, but she didn't react to his provocation. She was too busy fighting her own fears to really pay attention to his stupid remarks.

"OK, folks, let's go!" The guide yelled and pushed the raft from the shore. "You all know what to do. Paddle and I'll steer this floating rubber. I'll tell you when to paddle and when to stop. Follow my orders exactly and everything's going to work out to your satisfaction."

Everyone began paddling and Andrea joined the collective activity, trying to hold the rhythm of the man, sitting in front of her. She relaxed a bit after seeing that the raft was obviously quite stable and wouldn't turn over just like that at the first wave. The ride began really smoothly and her fears began to disperse like the fog in the morning sunlight.

The river flew at the beginning quite serenely, only few bigger waves and small insignificant rapids shook them a bit but they all sat securely on the raft and paddled. However, after initial chatting amongst the crew of the raft, everyone now concentrated on the paddling while also trying to enjoy the sights of the ever changing riverbanks. Even Andrea managed to cast a look or two to the nature and once she thought to have seen some little, sleek brown hairy thing, swishing through the water close to the bank. She turned to the guide: "Was that an otter?"

The guide looked into direction in which Andrea's hand pointed, but the animal was already gone. He turned to Andrea: "Could have been. They do live here, but are rarely seen. You're obviously the lucky one, lady!" He smiled at her and earned himself a bright smile from her. She was slowly beginning to feel well.

After few minutes of silence Andrea suddenly squeaked frightened and it immediately got Tim's attention: "What?" He looked at his sister, who was gazing at something in front of her and pointing her arm at that something.

"There! Ahead! Rapids! BIG!" Andrea squeaked like a scared chipmunk and pointed ahead with shaking arm. And there were indeed some bigger rapids. Still much calmer than the ones she looked at before they started, but big enough to frighten her. She turned halfway towards the guide accusingly: "You said there were no rapids downstream!"

They were nearing the rapids and the roaring water made any communication difficult, so the guide had to yell: "No, I didn't say there were no rapids! I said there were no dangers! And that's a big difference. These rapids are very short, perhaps 100 feet and are definitely not dangerous. Just hook your feet under the ropes tightly and paddle until we're clear of the rapids."

Andrea had no time to answer as they were already at the beginning of the rapids. They were indeed very short and not exactly wild at all. But her fear obviously got the better of her and she almost froze as the raft began to jump up and down on the wild water. She managed to keep balance for few seconds, but after another sharp tilt of the raft, her feet slipped out of the slings and she began to paddle with her arms through the air to regain her balance. She could hear Tim's voice as he yelled almost in panic, but in the next moment she fell into the water. Luckily for her, they have already passed the rapids and she fell into more calm part of the river. Her life vest prevented her from submerging and after some spluttering and frenzied paddling into all possible directions, she finally found herself floating only few feet from the raft.

"Damn it, miss! I told you to hold tight." The guide was more worried and maybe even angry than scared. He saw how she floated like a wet cat and looked helplessly towards him with eyes, big as saucers. "Come on, guys, let's go and get her out of the water." He signaled to the crew to turn the raft and pull the completely soaked Andrea into the raft.

In a matter of a minute, she was already sitting back on the raft, shivering not because of the cold, but mainly because of the fear and slight shock after falling into the cold water and experiencing firsthand how it was to be thrown from the raft. She looked at Tim like lost puppy and he couldn't help but smile at her: "You look really gorgeous. Just like drowned rat."

"Y… yeah, j … just m … make f … fun offff mmmee." Clattered Andrea and shivered even more violently. Tim instantly regretted to have made fun of his obviously shocked and very cold sister and turned to the guide: "Are we there yet?"

The guide answered: "It's still about half a mile down the river, but there are no more rapids. We'll be there shortly." He looked at shivering Andrea, who hugged herself tightly to keep the little warmth to herself and reached for additional jacket, stowed in the waterproof bag, tied to the bottom of the raft. "Here, put this on. It's not much, but it'll at least keep you a bit warmer."

Andrea reached for the jacket: "T.. thank you!" Her shivering was already calming down and after she put the jacket on, she hugged herself again.

Tim looked at her apologetically: "I'm sorry." He really felt sorry for his sister, seeing her so obviously in distress and cold.

Andrea nodded shakily and didn't even try to answer him. She was still freezing but it was getting better. She couldn't wait to be on the shore again. True, she would still be in her wet neoprene clothes, but she wouldn't be on this waggling and slippery raft. But still … she wasn't feeling any regrets to have tried it. It was definitely an interesting experience, much different than the first time she'd tried it. It had been on a quite tame river then and compared to this one it was actually like a walk in the park. But nevertheless, she decided that this one time was enough for her. On a calm lake or a lazy flowing river she'd do it again, but on such a river … no, this experience was enough.

After few minutes in which Andrea finally got her shivering under control, they reached their disembarking point where a mini bus waited to take them back to their starting point. After they landed, the guide jumped off the raft as the first and grabbed Andrea's hand to get her off the raft as first. She was still wrapped up in his jacked and after she stepped on the shore, she took it off and handed it to him: "Thank you, I appreciate your kindness."

The guide looked a little guilty: "I'm really sorry that it had to be you who fell into the water. I hope that you're not angry with me?"

Andrea frowned: "Why should I be angry with you? It was my fault that I ended in the water. You did nothing wrong."

The guide looked relieved upon hearing her statement and nodded to her: "Thank you for not blaming me. I appreciate that you're not angry and thinking of suing me or the company."

Andrea looked slightly perplexed: "Really? Have you had such experiences before? Did anyone tried to drag you to the court?"

The guide shook his head: "No, I've never had any such experience, but I have a friend, who's still fighting the legal battle because one of his passengers fell in the water."

Andrea shook her head in dismay: "Did that person at least injure themselves?"

The guide grinned: "No, he just got wet and that was enough for him to start a lawsuit."

Andrea shook her head again as if she wouldn't believe what she just heard, smiled at the guide and aimed herself towards the bus to find something dry to wear. It wasn't really cold, but she still hasn't warmed up enough. Tim followed her and as he stepped on the bus, he saw how she was rummaging through the things in her rucksack to find something to put on.

"Wait a minute, sis. I've got a spare pullover in my rucksack. Although I don't think it's wise to put it up over your wet clothes. It'll only get wet too. You should at least take off this wet jacket and then put on the dry one."

She looked up at him and a small smile crossed her lips: "Thanks, bro. It's nice to hear that for once you're not making fun of me."

Tim felt slightly embarrassed so he didn't say anything, but just nodded and grabbed his rucksack. He pulled out the said piece of clothing, together with a towel: "Here! Take off the wet clothes and dry yourself." He stepped in front of her so that she wouldn't be stared at by the others, who were already beginning to enter the bus.

Andrea noticed his position and smiled: "I'm not that modest, Tim. Besides … I still have my bra on and I'm not taking it off."

"I know. It's just … call it brother's protectiveness or whatever you want. I may make fun of you, but I'll still always protect you." Tim's voice was absolutely serious and allowed no doubts that he really meant what he said.

Andrea smiled thankfully at him while drying herself. She knew that all the ranting and little wicked words were not meant to hurt her, but to amuse her, to show his affection for his little sister. They might have been twins, but the fact, that Tim was few minutes older, caused him to act very protectively towards her. Such verbal games only underlined the closeness they shared. Even though they sometimes fought relentlessly, they always remained aware that the other one would instantly step in to help the other, should it be necessary.

Soon everyone entered the bus and after a minute it started towards the starting point of their downstream tour. During the drive, Andrea looked out the window and admired the beautiful scenery as they meandered along the river they just descended. "It's really nice here. I'm sorry that Cameron and John didn't come with us. I'm sure they'd enjoy it too."

Tim grinned: "Even though you landed in the water, you still find it beautiful? Remarkable." Then his grin vanished: "I hope that they enjoyed their climbing. After all, it's much more dangerous up in the mountains than here on the river. Here you can only get wet, but up there …"

"I'm sure they're OK. Cameron wouldn't allow John to go climbing in some really difficult rocks. She's too protective of him." Andrea looked thoughtful.

"Exactly. Sometimes she even seems overprotective. Not to even mention that she's much stronger than she looks." Tim smiled as he remembered his experience as he landed hard on his ass after his ill fated attempt to kiss her.

The rest of the journey they remained silent and just admired the scenery. Even the sometimes very loud chattering of other guests, who were reliving the descent with exaggerating words, each one putting himself or herself in the role of the hero, didn't bother them. In fact, should the drive take a little longer, Tim would probably even fall asleep. Andrea had no such luck. The thick pullover that her brother gave her warmed her torso up, but she still felt uncomfortable in her wet pants and standing water in her shoes and she was hardly waiting to get to the car and change into something dry.

After they reached their destination, they quickly went to their car to pick up their clothing before getting a shower. Nearby there were shower cubicles and Andrea took care that she was the first one to get in there. She turned the water on and waited until it was really hot before she stepped under the nozzle. She sighed contentedly as hot water flowed down her body and finally warmed her up. She stayed in there a little longer than the others, just to make sure she'd be warm enough.

After she was finally dressed in dry clothes, she really felt better and much warmer. After they both changed, Tim brought their neoprene clothing back to the office where they got them before.

They said good-bye to their excursion mates and drove towards the cabin. As they approached it, they noticed that it was still closed and there was no one around. Andrea wondered a little but thought nothing special of it. After all, Cameron and John could have taken a longer climb and would come later. Perhaps she should try calling them? She looked for her cell phone and suddenly a shiver ran down her spine. She remembered that she forgot it in her body bag, which she left on during the rafting trip, so it was with her as she fell into the water. Almost frantically she pulled the body bag, which she took off as she went to shower, from her rucksack. She reached for the phone and pulled it out of the bag, but, unfortunately it was dead and nothing she could possibly do would bring it back to life.

"Damn!" She cursed aloud and Tim looked at her in surprise. Before he could ask what was wrong, she showed him the dead phone: "I had this damn thing in my body bag as I fell into the river. Now it's dead."

"Well, what did you expect? You fall in the water with a non-waterproof phone. The logical result is that it's broken. Utterly destroyed!" He shook his head at his sister's carelessness. She really never had a thing for such technical gadgets. For her, they were simply there to serve her and she gave them no second thoughts. Maintenance was something she never considered as important and the inner life of such things was a mystery to her, so she had no intentions to get acquainted with technical aspects as long as they worked. "Whom would you call?"

"I was thinking of calling Cameron to see if everything's all right and when are they coming home." Andrea didn't react to her brother's commentary. "Where's your phone?"

Tim reached into the front pocket of his rucksack, pulled his phone out and handed it to her: "Here! Safely stuck in here and it made no trip on the river." Slight irony couldn't be overheard in his voice.

Andrea grimaced at him and dialed Cameron's number. After a second she removed the phone from her ear with surprised expression, turning it towards Tim, so that he could hear the operator's voice, informing the caller that the number was not available at the moment.

"Strange. Or maybe not. She might have switched it off for the climb, or they're somewhere where there's no GSM signal." Tim didn't seem all too worried.

Andrea just shook her head and tried dialing John's number too, with exact the same result. "I guess we'll have to wait a little. I'll try again later." Holding Tim's phone in her hand, she looked at it thoughtfully for a second and then lifted her gaze to Tim again: "Do you think we should check with Sarah and Derek too?"

Tim immediately shook his head: "I don't think so. They left only few hours ago and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate if you'd call them already. They said they'd need few days and we should give them the credit to be able to take care of them."

Andrea nodded thoughtfully and answered absentmindedly: "You're right. They would probably think that I'm another spoiled teenage brat that can't restrain herself from molesting others."

Tim laughed: "I wouldn't go that far. But I still think that we should leave calling them to John or Cameron. After all, we're just guests."

Andrea grinned and nodded: "Well, in that case I'll go and lay down for a while. Or maybe read a good book."

"OK. I'll just stay here and see if I can find something to get myself occupied with. With no television or DVD …" Tim grimaced at the thought that he might be even forced to read a book instead of being able to watch TV. In the cabin there was no TV or any other means of receiving the news from outside world, not even a phone. The only possibility was the cell phone, for the cabin was covered by the corresponding signal. He pulled his cell phone out of Andrea's hands: "Maybe I can at least find some radio station."

Andrea shook her head disapprovingly: "Maybe I should confiscate the phone and give you a book instead." Then her face brightened slightly: "But I think that Cameron and John will be back soon, so you'll at least have some company in boredom."

"Ha, ha, very funny." Mocked Tim, pulled headphones from his rucksack, plugged them into the phone and began to fiddle with it to find some acceptable radio station.

Andrea looked at her brother for few seconds but noticed that he was already in his own world, so she sighed and went into their room.

Two hours later they were sitting in the living room of the cabin and it was obvious that they were worried. In the last two hours Andrea tried to call Cameron and John a few times, after she managed to pull the phone out of Tim's hands for a second, but she always received the same response: their numbers were at the moment not available. Slowly she began to worry for her friends. It was very unlike Cameron to have her cell phone switched off for so long and even more unbelievable that they would still be in some area without the signal. Andrea was almost sure that something must have happened to them. Otherwise she would have been able to reach at least one of them. She tried to occupy herself with a book, but after she realized that she had been reading the same page for ten minutes, without really knowing what she read, she gave up and gazed at Tim, who was obviously lost in his own world. He leaned back on the couch with earphones in his ears, eyes closed and seemingly completely absentminded.

She closed the book and put it aside, sighed and looked through the window. The night began to fall and it was getting darker with each minute. She got up and walked to the window, gazing outside but even the nearest trees were now only the shadows in the dusk. She turned to Tim: "I think that we should go after them."

Tim, who was still listening to some radio station, registered that she was addressing him and lifted his head, not really hearing what she said. "Huh?" He pulled earphones from his ears: "What did you say?"

Andrea sighed impatiently and rolled her eyes: "I said that we should go search for them. It's almost dark outside and I'm sure that something's wrong. They should be back a long time ago." She stomped towards her brother resolutely and stopped few inches before him. She put her clenched fist to her hips and gazed at her brother irritably: "And stop listening to that stupid radio!" Her voice was clearly annoyed.

"Is it really that late already?" Tim checked the time on his phone and his eyes grew wide. He finally looked into his sister's eyes and saw more than little annoyance there. But he also saw that she was clearly worried. He suddenly felt something like shame creeping into him. It's been more than two hours since they returned from rafting and all that time he was simply listening to music, not caring for his friends and sister.

"Yes, it is. I'm sure that something's wrong. They wouldn't have stayed on the mountain for so long if everything was OK. And they most definitely wouldn't be constantly unreachable." Andrea was still annoyed because of Tim's lack of interest in what happened to their friends, but could see on his face that he felt guilty. Seeing his reaction she decided to press on further to make him understand that Cameron and John perhaps needed their help.

Tim sighed apologetically and stood up: "I agree. They should have returned already." He paused for a second and gazed through the window into the dark. "I'll go after them."

Andrea was expecting such decision, but after hearing it, she felt on one hand relieved that Tim would finally do something instead of listening to the music, but on the other hand she felt uneasy: "I should go with you."

"No, you should stay here. What if they're only running really late and they return while we're out looking for them? They'd find an empty cabin and even if we'd leave them a note, who knows if they wouldn't go out to search for us. We could end up searching for each other." Tim was reluctant to take Andrea with him.

Andrea nodded reassured although she was still worried that Tim would be out there in unknown forest alone in the dark. "I guess you're right." She looked at him with worried expression: "You should take a flashlight and don't forget your phone." She paused for a second: "You still remember what Cameron told us where they'd go climbing?"

Tim nodded with a small smile. It was obvious that Andrea was worried for him. "I'll be OK, sis! I'm big enough to take care of myself." Then he turned towards the kitchen: "I think I saw some flashlights in there."

He stepped towards the kitchen, which was divided from the living room only by the eating table and opened few drawers before he found a flashlight: "Here it is!" He lifted a big Maglite flashlight and showed it to Andrea who was still standing at the couch and looked at him expectantly.

"Yes, it is. But does it work?" Andrea wanted to be sure.

Tim turned it on and a bright ray of light illuminated the ceiling: "See? It's obviously fully charged." He switched it off and grinned at his sister. "I've got everything I need. It's a pity that you ruined your phone. Now I won't be able to call you."

Andrea shrugged: "Sorry, what happened, happened and I can't do anything to change it." Then she looked into his eyes again: "Be careful, will you?"

Tim took her hand and squeezed it lightly: "I'll be more than careful, sis." He stepped to the door: "See you later. Lock the door. You never know who or what could be roaming these woods at this time. I heard that there could even be bears or mountain lions around." He teased her, but then rushed through the door to avoid possible repercussions and closed it behind him.

"I will." Whispered Andrea and stepped to the door to lock them. She heard Tim's last remark, but didn't pay it any attention. She knew too that bears and mountain lions lived around here and it only caused her more worries about Cameron, John and now Tim. Then she moved over to the window and looked outside, just to catch a small ray of light, before it disappeared into the forest. "I've got a bad feeling. I've got a really bad feeling that something went terribly wrong." She whispered to herself and sat on the couch.

TBC

* * *

_I know … no Cameron, no John in this chapter. The next one is all about them, promise!_

_From now on, I'll try to upload new chapters regularly on Saturdays. I hope that I'll be able to do it every week. Should I sometime fail to do so … I'm sorry in advance._


	6. Chapter 5

_I noticed that the last chapter received far less attention than the ones before. I suspect that it happened because there were no Cameron and John in it. I understand … even I'm not that interested in chapters, not dealing with them. But the fact is that it was necessary for the story plot. Sure, I could have left out the majority of it and limited it on the last part, but every time I start to write, the story takes it course and ideas bubble out of me, simply forcing me to write them down, regardless if they are about Cameron, John, Sarah or someone else for that matter. As I pointed out before, this story handles with up to four different but parallel storylines and not all of them include Cam and John, meaning, they cannot be in the center of attention all the time._

_After 'Wintertale' I decided to try writing a more complex story (to see if I'm up to such challenge at all) and I wrote the concept for this one, leaning much more on the supporting characters than in my previous stories. Why? To be completely honest … I'm preparing ground for finale of this story (which is still more than 30 chapters away) while also leaving some open ends free to interpretation of the reader or maybe even … And yet are all supporting characters, regardless of their occasional heavy involvement in the story, just that … supporting characters for the main two (yes, Sarah and Derek are, at least in my eyes, not the main ones either)!_

_Special thanks to those who still found/find interest in this story and wrote a review: olischulu, morded, Luke777, XxDeathStarxX, sarah and lithiummessiah1. _

_I only ask the readers to allow the story to develop and everything will become clear after 'all is said and done'. There will be more chapters without direct participation of Cameron and/or John, although everything that happens is needed to aid them both. All the actions in the story have one goal … Cameron & John._

_Thus said, from now on I won't pester you with my ranting and explaining any more, unless you'll ask me to (lol) and concentrate on the story again._

_Oh, BTW … I know I've said I'd update on Saturdays. Well, things in real life have changed and I wouldn't be able to update every Saturday, so I chose Thursday instead (after all … Thursday was also my 'standard upload day' for 'Wintertale' and other stories)._

* * *

**Chapter 5  
**

Six masked men carefully and yet swiftly emerged from under the trees and approached Cameron, who was lying on her face over John, knocked out. The one who was taking the point, a man of heavy built but only of average height, obviously their leader, raised and waved his hand and signaled the others to spread out and stop. They spread out in a manner that left no doubt that they were professionals and after they reached their positions, they stopped dead in their tracks. He gestured to his immediate left and right men to check on Cameron.

Two chosen men carefully stepped over to her unmoving body, trailing their weapons unwavering on her. While the left one kept his weapon pointed directly at Cameron's head, the right one nudged her with his shotgun and after she didn't react, he took another step towards her and lightly nudged her with his foot. She still didn't react, so he turned to the leader and signaled the thumb up. The leader nodded, turned sideways to another man and signaled him to get to her.

The man followed the command immediately and jogged over to her with visible confidence that it was a safe matter. Once there, he kneeled beside her, took off his rucksack and pulled a small device out of the side pocket. He cut the wires, connected to the two projectiles, which were embedded in her hip at the length of about three feet and quickly connected the device to the two wires. After they were connected, he repeatedly pushed at one of the buttons on it, pulled a roll of adhesive tape out of his rucksack and fixed the device to Cameron's side with the tape.

10 seconds later, Cameron's body twitched shortly, as if she were electrocuted and remained still. The man stood up, pulled his cap off and shook his head while scratching his scalp as if the cap would itch. Then he looked at the leader: "Everything's OK, it will be electrocuted every 60 seconds." Chuckling humorlessly, he added: "They might have said 120 seconds but I prefer to be on the safe side, so I decided for 60." He had very short brown hair, his cold blue eyes spoke of his determination and as he looked at his leader, his eyes got that cold gleam, witnessing that he was trained to do anything that was required from him. Not only executing the commands, he would probably even enjoy doing bad things to the helpless. He turned back to Cameron and looked at her with clear despise. His appearance was one of a brutal soldier, used to intimidate everyone whom he wouldn't find worth of respect.

The leader nodded and also pulled off his cap, revealing the man in his forties with sharp lines on the face, which was marked by ugly scar, reaching from his right ear over the cheek to his nose. It was obviously a reminder of some deep cut, probably caused by some stump object; at least it could be judged so by its jagged edges. The rest of the men followed his example and a soft murmur could be heard as some of them sighed in relief to have the masks off. Their faces and short cropped hair, just like the two men who took off their caps as first, revealed that they were probably soldiers. Or at least a well trained and equipped militia. The leader now stepped towards Cameron, stopped so close to her that his boots almost touched her hip and looked down at her.

A man, who was the first one to approach her, a man in his early twenties, the only one with blonde hair and a face that appeared slightly too soft for some experienced and tested soldier, now stepped beside him: "What are we going to do with the boy, sir?"

The leader gazed at John for a second and then kneeled at his side. He took off the glove from his right hand and checked John's neck. After a second, he straightened up and took a good look at his immobilized leg and numerous cuts and bruises all over his body. After few seconds of silence in which he obviously contemplated his decision, he said in a rough sounding voice: "Leave him. Without help he has no chance to get out of here alive." The soldier, who asked the question, looked almost relieved that his leader decided to leave John there. His eyes flickered to Cameron again and if someone would be looking at him very carefully, they could see something like regret briefly flashing across his face. However, it had been so well hidden that no one of the others noticed it.

The man, who connected the device to Cameron, appeared on leader's other side: "Do we have any information who is the boy?"

The leader shook his head: "I've no idea. The information didn't say anything about some human boy; it was just about female cyborg. And that's the one we're here for."

Then he turned to the other men and stretched his arm to point at Cameron: "Take the machine and let's get out of here. Leave the boy. We're not murderers."

One of the men quickly vanished into the forest, just to return only few seconds later, carrying some kind of folding stretcher. After he trotted to the others and joined his comrades he stepped beside Cameron, quickly extended the stretcher and laid it on the ground. Two of them grabbed Cameron, turned her on her back and lifted her on the stretcher. In that moment her body twitched again. The two, who were still holding her body, froze momentarily in their positions without letting loose of her and all other men turned to look at her with slight unease written on their faces. After they noticed that it was only a small twitch and that she didn't move again, they relaxed and continued their job.

The man who attached the electrocuting device chuckled dismissively: "I told you that it won't wake up until I decide so. Now pick it up and let's go." From the way how he was talking to his comrades it was clear that he was second in command of the squad. The leader stood beside the stretcher and stared at Cameron's unmoving face like a hawk. His second in command approached him and took a long look at her. Then he lifted his gaze to look at his CO: "Unbelievable, isn't it?" His lips twitched in some king of disgusted smirk.

The leader turned to him with questioning expression upon his face, so he clarified his remark: "How could they have made it looking so human. Hell, it looks like the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen."

"We're not here to judge its beauty. We're here to bring it back to the lab." The leader commented dryly. But his eyes fell on Cameron's prone form again and he remained unmoving for few seconds. Then he turned back to his men and waved his hand impatiently that they should finally leave this place.

Four men now took each one handle of the stretcher, lifted it and hurried away in a trot. Only few minutes after the attack, there was no evidence that Cameron has ever been here. Only trampled grass and few footprints were left after the band of kidnapers vanished into the woods. John's battered body lied on the ground in the same position as it was after Cameron went down. The birds returned too and their chirping filled the air. Under different circumstances it would be a very pleasant sound, but in this situation it looked more like a funeral song. Two lovers, two fighters, have been rudely separated. One taken away, the other left heavily injured in the wilderness to die. The humanity's hopes to succeed in the impending war against the machines just received the hardest blow until this moment and the fate of the human race became much darker.

* * *

With soft groaning in pain that flooded his foggy mind, John slowly opened his eyes. He needed few seconds to focus his eyes enough to see anything beyond the fog that covered his eyes and made it impossible for him to see anything clearly. He tried to shake his head but regretted it immediately, as sharp pain shot through his skull, so that he hissed in pain through clenched teeth. His consciousness returned slowly and gradually and the first thing he felt was pain. Pain in his head, pain in his chest, and pain in his leg … He didn't know if there was any part of his body that didn't hurt.

Cameron! The name of his love shot through his brain and he tried his best to look around to see if she was anywhere to be seen. Why wasn't she leaning over him? Since their winter vacation it became almost the ritual that when he woke, she was either leaning over him and gazing into his eyes intently, or lying inches from him and waiting for him to open his eyes. He hated it deeply when his mother watched him sleep, but got so used to Cameron's staring eyes that he came to even love it and if for some reason he sometimes woke up without her by his side, he felt like the day hadn't begun as it should. But this time there were no brown pools, gazing at him. He'd give anything just to hear her soft voice, even if she would with all seriousness that she possessed in abundance, admonish him for his stupidity. Memories returned in scattered flocks and after a minute, he finally managed to gather all the bits of information, to remember what happened. But Cameron was still nowhere. Where the hell was she?

He remembered how the rope tore. He remembered his fall and Cameron's panicked cry. He remembered hitting the ground and breaking his leg, but nothing else after that moment. _What happened after the fall? Where am I? Where is Cameron? _

In his mind, he could still hear Cameron's scream as he fell. He knew that she should be right here with him, but she was not. He gathered all his strength and lifted his head to look at his battered body. Wincing in pain after his head was up, he felt like a bullet would shot through his brain, but he still managed to look at his left leg, which hurt the most. In surprise, he noticed that it had been immobilized with few branches and a piece of rope. _So Cameron must be somewhere! She got down to me and she tried her best to help me!_ A small smile crept over his face as he realized that his fiancée obviously managed to get to him and made everything she could to help him as much as the circumstances allowed. And that made the fact that she was nowhere to be seen even more strange.

Another look around told him that he most definitely wasn't there where he fell off the rock. He knew that he fell on a scree slope, but now he was lying in a forest on a grassy ground. _Cameron must've brought me here. But … WHERE is she?_ He tried to yell for her, but his throat fell so dry that no sound escaped his lips. _Did she go to get help? Nah, I don't believe! She's perfectly capable of carrying me as far as it's necessary. Maybe she's looking for something in the forest._ He coughed dryly but his completely dried out throat still prevented him from making any articulated sound at all. He tried to swallow, but there was almost no saliva in his mouth. _How long have I been unconscious? Judging by my throat it must have been quite a long time._

He finally managed to lift his hand and touched his face. He gasped in pain as he touched his cheek. _I must've been rolling down the slope like a doll._ Suddenly he remembered the winter vacation and how Cameron rolled down the ski slope after she'd been hit by the rowdy snowboarder. He remembered his panic as he saw her lifeless body tumbling down. Just a memory, but he suddenly shivered in fear what could have happened then. _This must be how she felt when she saw me rolling down the slope. I'm sorry Cam. I'm so sorry for causing you such fear._

The forest was already mostly dark and he was almost sure that it must have been hours since his fall. As they began their ascent, sun was still high up above on the skies, but now it looked like it would have already set down and the dusk was slowly creeping into the forest, causing the crooked trees to form almost surreal shadows of something dangerous, something otherworldly. The fact that it must have been quite late just made him worry more where Cameron might have gone. He tried to sit up and almost cried out in pain. With all of his willpower he managed to restrain himself from crying out loud and limited his discomfort and pain to a very loud grunt. His chest hurt like hell and he realized that he must have broken some ribs too. _Nice! I, dickhead, want to go climbing and end up breaking an array of bones, not to mention other injuries._ He made himself no illusions that few broken bones were all that he suffered at his fall. His head hurt terribly and he also felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Every time he tried to move his head, he felt how his neck hurt too. And yet he realized that he had been more fortunate than wise. He had challenged the destiny completely unnecessarily and it hit him back just hard enough to make him understand that he was not supposed to play games with it, showing him that he wasn't invincible as he sometimes tried to persuade himself. _Just the way how a leader of humanity should act! I wonder if the future John was the same in his teens as I am. I should really begin to act more responsible._

His inner monologue didn't last very long. Cameron's absence was becoming more and more disturbing. He knew that she wouldn't willingly leave him alone. Hell, since their winter vacation she never was more than three feet away from him and this now was really getting strange. He tried to swallow again and noticed that his throat was probably a little better now, so he tried to call for her.

"Came … on!" He croaked like a crow which had caught a terrible cold and if he could, he'd laugh over himself how it sounded. Then he finally remembered the cell phone in his pocket. _Just great! I must have really hit hard with my head not to remember it. _He tried to reach into his pocket to retrieve the phone. His arm was hurting and he had to clench his teeth not to make any pained sounds. After he managed to pull the phone out of his pocket, he lifted it to look at it: "Oh, goddammit! Shit! Fuck!" In his hand he held what was left of his phone: shattered display, the housing was broken on at least three places and it was more than obvious that this phone had accepted and sent its last call before he crashed onto the scree slope. "It must've been shattered at the fall. SHIT!" He cursed and crashed the phone to the ground. The simple gesture caused him such pain that this time even his will couldn't prevent him from crying out loud and slowly pulled his hand back to cradle it.

"OK. No phone then. What do I have left? Just my voice." He muttered and tried to gather all what was left of his strength to make at least one decent yell. "CAMEROOOOON!" It still sounded like a fleeing crow, running away from some grave danger, but it was much better than his first try. He remained silent for few minutes but there was no response to his call. The darkness was now quickly getting the upper hand over the day and he shivered a little. It wasn't that cold, but the pain and his mental state caused him to feel cold.

Slowly, realistic fear of what might have happened to Cameron began to creep into his heart. He instinctively felt that something must have gone terribly wrong. He finally managed to get his body under control again and also his mind was now conditionally working normally, so he looked around carefully. The darkness was already omitting his sight, but he could still see that the grass around him was trampled like a herd of big animals would have chosen this place for their playground. His eyes suddenly stopped on something metal glittering in the grass about 6 feet away from him. He strained his eyes to make it out, but with no success. It was too small and too far away for him to clearly see it. Additionally it was covered by the grass that hindered him to see it. "Looks like I'll have to move after all." His teeth were clenched all the time and he mentally prepared himself for a long journey to the object of his interest.

He slowly and carefully dragged himself over the short distance, hissing and grunting with every move. The pain was getting worse with each inch that he closed in on the object in the grass, but just the thought that something might have happened to Cameron and that the object he was aspiring to investigate might have something to do with her disappearance, gave him the strength to overcome the pain and carry on. He needed almost half a minute to get so close to the object that he could make out what it was. He reached for it and grabbed two pieces of copper wire. They were shiny and it was more than obvious that they were new, not forgotten here by someone long ago. They must have been left here short time ago.

Lost in his thoughts he turned the two pieces in his hand and tried to figure out what they could be used for. Then he looked at the ground and noticed that the grass was even more trampled at this specific location. His eyes suddenly darted back to the wires in his hand as his brain began to fire the electrical signals along the neurons and he began to connect the facts. Copper. Wires. Electricity. Shock. Then the revelation hit him like a ton of bricks and his eyes flew wide open in shock. Electricity … terminator … shut down. A picture of Cameron, lying in the driveway of their house about half a year ago suddenly reappeared. _SHIT! Someone must have electrocuted her and taken her! But who? Where to? And why am I still here? Am I not the primary target of any terminator or gray that have been sent to this time? Why would they take Cameron but leave me?_

He suddenly caught himself panting heavily. It definitely looked like Cameron had been taken by someone who knew what she was. Someone had her in their hands and was probably right now torturing her. But why? The only explanation he could come up with was that she had probably been taken by someone who wanted to build a terminator or … even worse … Skynet! Cameron, with her almost unlimited learning capacity, her vast knowledge, her information about the present and the future was invaluable for someone, aspiring to build an AI or for Skynet. According to his knowledge there was only one possible actor, only one company, who presumably had all the assets to even start such project, only one player who could have known about Cameron and also know how to overpower her … Kaliba. But … should they be behind what happened, should they've been the ones to abduct Cameron then the information that Derek got … it would most probably be a trap! And why didn't they take him? They were most definitely aware of his identity and it was simply and plainly unbelievable that they would leave him behind alive.

John suddenly found it almost impossible to breathe and gasped for air wildly, beginning to hyperventilate. He tried to calm down, but the prospects that he could deduct out of this situation, underlined by his really bad health situation didn't help his efforts to relax. His will was strong but in this fight his battered body won the battle and the darkness claimed him again, so that he collapsed to the ground before he was able to calm his breathing down.

* * *

Cold. Hard metal surface. Sparse lighting. These were the first sensations Cameron got after she rebooted. She knew that something went terribly wrong and she tried to assess the situation and gather as much information as possible before she would show that she's awake. She checked her internal chronometer and almost gasped in surprise after she realized that she had been out for more than four hours. _They must have been constantly electrocuting me to keep me shut down. But who are they? Where am I? And where is John? _However there was one additional question that _really_ bothered her: she was able to restart in far less than 120 seconds, which were the general value for the terminators and yet they managed to keep her off line for so long. _They must know that I'm capable of fast reboot! _This thought was not pleasant at all, for it meant that one of her advantages over the other terminators had been taken away from her.

It was clear to her that whoever was responsible for what happened to them knew exactly what she was and how they could disable her. The way they took her down also proved to her that they were no amateurs and that they had sophisticated means to control her in their hands.

She tried to locate her position, but couldn't establish any connection to the satellites. There were only few possibilities why she was unable to find any satellites. She was obviously in some shielded room, probably even underground. She scanned the room for possible occupants and found that she was completely alone. The pressure on her wrists and ankles as well as wide metal restraints which she felt over her chest, abdomen, hips and knees signaled her that she was restrained to the cold, flat metal surface. She tried to free her right arm, but failed on the restraints. Then she tried with all of her strength and failed again. Now it was clear to her that her captors knew very good what she was capable of and were using restraints, strong enough that she couldn't break them; strong enough to keep her immobilized; strong enough to subdue her and prevent her from escaping.

John! After she realized that there was no way out of this situation, at least not right now, terrible fear swept over her. What happened to John? Is he still alive? Have they taken him too? Did they kill him? Her eyes snapped open almost involuntarily in fear and for the second time today she felt how panic began to creep into her mind. She knew that if they left John alone under the mountain, there was a realistic chance for him to die without proper medical attention. He would be all alone in the wilderness, far away from human settlements, in an area, where bears and mountain lions were the biggest and most dangerous predators. If they took him, they might have given him at least the basic medical help. But … what if they simply killed him?

As she realized that she had absolutely no way to find out what happened to John, she shuddered violently and began to uncontrollably pull at her restraints with every last bit of her strength in utter fear for John's life. But all her straining was in vain. The restraints didn't even budge and after few seconds, her violent emotional reaction made place to calculated thoughts again. She couldn't help John if she'd panic and behave like a frightened girl. She had to make a plan, a plan how to escape. She had to find out what happened to John. She had to get back to him! And for that, she needed to keep her head cool.

She forced herself to calm down and began to analyze possible escape scenarios. The question, how did her abductors even know about her, was the second most important question that settled itself in her mind. But until she got contact with someone, until she knew at least where she was and who took her, she could do very little about it, so she tried to direct all her thoughts towards developing different possibilities how to get out of here. But this also required some more knowledge of her circumstances, knowledge that she didn't have. The only thing she was sure of was the fact that she must have been taken by a very good organized institution or company. The way she'd been brought down and now kept restrained proved that to her. At the end, the only thing that she could do was to wait for someone to appear and try to get as much information out of them as possible. Only when she'd gather more information could she make a plan how to escape and get back to her John.

The fact, that she couldn't do anything else only curbed her fears what could have happened to him. They only added their five cents to the feeling of guilt that she was responsible for John's fall. Again she began to beat herself over the fact that she didn't see the riff in the rock which cut the rope and caused John's accident. She soon fell into almost catatonic state, reliving the past few months with John and deliberately avoiding the thoughts on what happened today. She decided that he would live and that she would return to him as soon as possible. She had to apologize to him for causing his fall and beg for his forgiveness. Sooner or later someone would come to see her and she'd do everything possible to find a way out and back to her lover, to her fiancée, to the man who asked her to marry him. She realized that she'd need all her experiences, all her knowledge and also everything she learned about being human if she wanted to get out of here. But the first, although probably the most difficult, step was to wait. And she could be patient. If only she wouldn't worry so much about John …

TBC


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Are you absolutely sure that your informant is reliable? Is there any chance that he's trying to sell you some false information?" Sarah kept her gaze at the road while she was asking Derek. Somehow she's got a bad feeling about this whole thing. She couldn't quite put a finger on it, but her intuition told her that something was fishy about this information concerning Kaliba production facility. They've been on the road for four hours now and she was slowly getting impatient. At the beginning it was the narrow, dirt road which didn't allow them to drive as fast as they would want to and after they finally reached civilization, they fell directly in the rush hour and their progress was almost stalled.

Derek put his left elbow on the door window and supported his head with it. He'd been quiet for more than an hour, concentrating on driving and mulling over his own thoughts, which no one apart from him knew. Sarah's words seemed to finally bring him out of his complete concentration on other things and he looked at her with lifted eyebrow. Her question was actually right on place. He had been asking himself the same thing over and over again. True, the informant who told him about this facility never before double crossed him and he was hoping that she wouldn't start doing it now.

"She, not he!" He corrected Sarah quietly and after receiving only a raised eyebrow in response, he continued: "You know that I cannot vouch for her veracity with my life. But she never gave me any false information before. I'm reasonably sure that she's talking the truth and that she's not trying to deceive us." He answered while returning his eyes to the road, just to flicker them back to Sarah's face immediately for a long moment.

Sarah sighed theatrically and still kept her gaze straight forward. It didn't really matter if Derek's informant was a woman or a man; however, unpleasant memories of what his former friend Jesse almost did to her family resurfaced again and she couldn't help but bite: "Another Jesse?"

Derek took a long look sideways at her, studying her unreadable features. She kept her face straight forward and it didn't reveal anything. Then he turned back to the road again: "No, she's nothing like Jesse. She's not from the future. And she's reliable."

Sarah waited for him to tell her more, but he obviously decided that he wouldn't say anything more, so she just sighed, making a note to find out more about this informant later. They were now finally advancing along the road faster than before, for they left all densely populated areas behind and in front of them stretched the plains and almost all signs of human settlements vanished. Only now and then they could see proofs that humans did inhabit this area, albeit very thinly and they were probably not exactly friendly towards strangers. "How far until we're there?" She kept her mask in place and snapped more irritated than bored.

Derek threw a glance at the navigation: "Well, if this gadget works correctly then we're about 30 miles from the position that my informant gave me." He returned his eyes to the road and kept the speed constant. "We'll be there very soon."

Sarah finally turned her head, however not to look at Derek, but to gaze through her side window at the seemingly endless plains: "We should find a place not too far but still far enough that they won't detect us immediately."

Derek nodded with slight smirk on his face: "Sure, Sarah. I'm not that stupid to drive directly to their front door and knock to see who would come to open it. Once we're close, we should check for possible hideouts. Although …" He broke off and swept the desolate countryside with a clear frown on his face: "… it might be a small problem to find a suitable place to hide the car."

Sarah followed his example and scanned the area. She leaned slightly forward and put her hands on the dashboard: "Just like Cameron said." She paused for a second and finally looked at Derek: "Don't you think it's somehow creepy that she's almost always correct?" She creased her forehead and rubbed it with a hand. "I don't know if I should be happy or scared."

Derek looked slightly dumbfounded and he turned to look at her: "What? Why would you be happy? Or scared?"

Without looking at him Sarah answered: "Happy that she's on our side and scared that she knows so much and that she's capable of so much." Her eyes got that unfocused gaze, proving her absentmindedness. Then she shuddered slightly, refocused and turned back to Derek, who was halfway turned towards her and was trying to switch between looking at the road and at her every other second. "I'm afraid that we have absolutely no idea what she's actually capable of. Just the thought that she might fall in the hands of some Kaliba goons or someone else, working on such projects ..." She shuddered violently.

"Are you sure that you're only afraid of the enemy getting information about John?" Derek's voice was soft and he smiled at her slightly.

"What do you mean?" Sarah frowned at him.

"Oh, nothing special. It's just … lately you've begun to treat the cyborg like she was your kin, like she would belong to the family." Derek's smile grew wider.

Sarah opened her mouth to protest, but rethought it and remained for few seconds with open mouth. _He's right! I'm really beginning to consider tin miss like she was a part of my family. Hell, I'm really even beginning to like her!_ Then she shook her head and glared at Derek: "You should concentrate on driving and finding a nice hiding spot and not try to discuss my family matters." She snapped at him irritably what only caused Derek to laugh aloud.

"Sure, Sarah, whatever you say. But it's more than obvious that I hit the nerve." He chuckled and continued before Sarah could snap at him again: "To comfort you … even I'm starting to accept her as a person. She has her upsides, you know …"

Instead of glaring daggers at him, Sarah's face suddenly turned into a perfect picture of astonishment. "You … you …" She swallowed and tried again: "You didn't just say between the lines that you like her, did you?"

Derek pondered for a second and tapped his lower lip with a finger. "Well, I guess I did. However impossible it might appear …" He broke off and finally turned to look at Sarah with absolutely serious expression: "I was wrong about her. Completely wrong. And I'm not ashamed to admit it."

Sarah now grinned from ear to ear: "Yeah, that's really something new. Derek Reese admitting to have misjudged a machine. Even worse: Derek Reese accepting the machine as a person ." She gently patted his arm, clinging to the steering wheel. "You know Derek … I'm even starting to like you. However impossible it might appear …"

Derek snorted: "You're stealing my lines, Sarah Connor. I just might try to steal some of your Connorisms."

Sarah smiled at him and thought how much better it was when they had a good relationship than when they were at each other's throat all the time. Then she spotted a small group of trees, about 600 yards from the road, partially hidden behind some large boulders. She studied it for a second and then turned to Derek: "Is it still far to the facility?"

Derek checked the navigation again: "Well, according to this we're about three miles from the said location. Why?" he turned to Sarah questioningly.

However, Sarah still gazed at the trees behind the boulders and as Derek noticed that she was looking at something, he followed her gaze and his face suddenly lit up: "Oh yeah, that could be the right spot to hide the car." He didn't wait for her to answer and hit the brakes, at the same time scanning the terrain between the road and the boulders. "There! There's appropriate terrain to get there." He murmured more to himself than to Sarah and turned off the road.

The cloud of dust rose immediately after the wheels of the vehicle left the paved road and after Sarah looked into the rear view mirror and saw the immense cloud dust behind them, she also turned around to look through the rear window. She frowned and turned back to look at Derek: "I think it would be better to slow down a bit. We wouldn't want to draw attention to us, now, would we? We're raising more dust than a category four hurricane."

Derek slowed down significantly: "I would have slowed down even without your warning. I just wanted to get off the road quickly."

Sarah grinned wickedly: "Yeah, right. You were just about to do it. Why don't I believe you?"

Derek gave her a one sided grin: "You're a wicked woman, Sarah Connor." He was now driving very slowly and the dust cloud behind them was already being blown away by the wind, while the wheels of their car rose very little new airborne dust particles and even they were blown away by the wind immediately.

Sarah smiled wide: "I know. And I like it when you realize it." Then she directed her gaze through the windshield again and studied the spot they were aiming at. After few seconds she saw that there was a rough, but passable terrain on the right side of the boulders and showed at it: "There's a way in."

Derek nodded and steered towards the passage, Sarah showed him: "Yep, I've noticed it myself."

Sarah rolled the eyes but didn't answer him this time. _OK, I'll allow the man think he won the argument. He'll soon see that it was just an illusion._

After a short slow ride, they curved around the boulders and stopped behind them. In front of them stood few trees, surrounded by almost uninterrupted line of bushes, high enough to hide the car. There were few openings in the line, where a car could be squeezed through. The boulders shielded them from the road completely.

Derek stepped out of the car and started towards the trees to see if there was enough space to hide a car between them. Sarah opted for remaining in the car. It was hot outside and she wasn't exactly thrilled to expose herself to the heat and the sun before it was really necessary. She only reached for her gun and stayed alert to jump out of the car, should her intervention be required. Derek was standing in the middle of one of the openings and studied the terrain behind the bushes. After few seconds he returned to the car. He entered it and closed the door while still gazing towards the trees.

"Well?" Sarah was annoyed that he didn't immediately tell her what he found.

"Well, everything's fine. There's enough place to hide the car. The ground looks solid enough that it won't sink in the sand." He started the car slowly and drove towards the opening. After they passed it, with bush branches scraping against the car sides, he turned left and there was a nice place, big enough for two cars, well hidden behind the bushes and even in a shade of the trees.

Sarah smiled: "That's luxury! We even found a shaded parking space."

Derek stopped and turned off the car. Then he turned towards Sarah and looked at her insistently: "Remember what John said! No blowing up, no wild shooting matches! Just watching and bringing back information."

Sarah returned his look annoyed: "Yeah, yeah, right! I'm not deaf!" Then she opened the door, stepped out and stuck her head back through the door: "Are you coming or not, Reese?"

Derek shook his head and sighed while opening his door and exiting the car. "Women!" He muttered under his breath, taking good care that Sarah didn't hear him. He opened the trunk and pulled out a large bag, while Sarah, who joined him, also pulled out her own bag. They both almost simultaneously opened them and began to take out the weapons they thought would be necessary for this mission.

After they took everything they deemed necessary, Derek's eyes scanned Sarah from head to toe: "Geez, Sarah, we're not going to attack the Skynet's last resort, defended by hundreds of endos! Don't forget that we have a long walk to get there and as the sun shines at the moment …" He wiped his forehead, where small droplets of sweat already showed.

Sarah, who was also beginning to perspire and also wiped her eyebrows, paid him very little attention. She rearranged her load of weapons, consisting of two handguns, one large shotgun and few grenades, all accompanied by two belts, full of ammunition, one even with armor piercing bullets. "You never know what you might run into at such locations. If the facility is really as important as your informant believed then it's highly probable that it is heavily guarded. Even if we stay in safe distance … who guarantees us that there are no patrols running around?" She looked at him challengingly.

Derek, being as burdened with weapons as Sarah, just grinned at her: "Absolutely. That's why I followed your example and took as much as I'm able to carry."He picked up his rucksack, lying at his feet and threw it over his shoulders: "We better get going."

Sarah had nothing against his proposal and nodded wordlessly. After Derek turned around and picked up the direction, she followed immediately.

They walked for more than half an hour in silence, cursing the hot summer sun that heated the ground and it radiated the heat back mercilessly. Every now and then one of them wiped their foreheads and sighed a little. Derek was silently cursing that he forgot to take a hat to at least cover his head, which was now completely exposed to direct sunlight.

Sarah sighed and looked into the clear blue sky with absolutely no traces of clouds anywhere. Then she scanned their surroundings: "We haven't seen any living being since we left the car. Are you sure we're still on planet Earth?" She joked slightly accusingly.

Derek stopped and wiped his forehead with the sleeve. Then he looked around: "You should be thankful that we haven't met anyone. How would you explain your presence here to someone, especially considering the loads of weapons we are carrying along?" He took off his rucksack and pulled out a bottle of water. He already wanted to take a sip, but remembered that he was supposed to be a gentleman and offered it to Sarah first.

She gratefully took it and gulped the still cool liquid with thankfulness. Even though she wasn't that thirsty before, she now realized that she needed these few gulps of water. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and returned the bottle to Derek. "Thanks, Derek."

He nodded and put the bottle to his lips, taking few swallows of water. Then he screwed the cap back on and stowed the now half empty bottle into his rucksack: "We are quite close now. I believe it's behind the next ridge." He pointed towards low ridge of hills, rising directly before them. "We should be careful."

This time Sarah didn't make any of her trademark poisonous remarks, she just nodded. Anxiousness slowly crept into her and she was feeling how her senses suddenly appeared sharper. _Just like in old days. Every time I face the danger I calm down._ She motioned Derek to take the lead and he started towards the low hills.

After another ten minutes they were just below the top of the ridge. Before they could step on it, Derek stopped Sarah with outstretched arm: "Wait here for a second. I'll see if the air is clear."

Sarah wanted to object, but saw the cold determination in Derek's face and realized that in this moment he was the resistance fighter and not Derek Reese, the uncle. So she nodded and sat on the big stone: "OK, I'll wait here."

Derek left his rucksack at her feet, and approached the hilltop which was covered with large stones and boulders, offering at least small protection from anyone, who might be looking at the ridge from the other side. As he was almost there, he got down on all four and slowly crawled to look over the ridge to the other side. Slowly and carefully he lifted his head just high enough to see over the rocks on the top. He scanned both sides and after a minute or so, he crawled back and after few feet stood up and walked back to Sarah.

When he reached her, he sat beside her: "There's a building down there, perhaps four hundred feet far. But it looks deserted. There are no guards, no fence, no cars. It looks just like another desolate ruin in the middle of nowhere." He paused and shook his head: "I don't understand. She never before gave me false information."

"You know that the looks can deceive." Sarah tried to reassure him. Did they really come this far just to see a ruined, abandoned house? "I remember that I thought the same as I first saw the building of Desert Canyon Heat and Air. And then it turned out to be a trap that almost cost me my life." Her voice was slightly bitter at the memories of how she barely survived the incident.

Derek nodded: "I know. That's why I believe we should observe it for few hours before we decide what to do next."

Sarah didn't bother to answer him and began to study the ragged ridge above her to find a suitable place from where she could observe the building on the other side without being spotted by possible guardians or patrolling forces. Derek grinned at her: "There are few suitable places up there from which you can see the building quite good and yet they offer excellent protection."

Sarah nodded and stood up. She stretched her muscles in anticipation of a long stake out which will undoubtedly result in sore limbs and back. She hated such actions where she had to be still and almost unmoving for few hours. Then she took few steps towards selected position and soon crouched and then got on all fours to remain undetected by possible prying eyes from the building. She crawled to the ridge to take her position and paid no attention to Derek, who also decided to follow her lead and crawled beside her.

After a short time they found suitable positions. Not comfortable, but acceptable enough for a longer stay. They both pulled out their binoculars and positioned their guns so that they would be able to grab them instantly should it be necessary. After that they both fell silent and only occasionally looked at the seemingly deserted building through binoculars.

Few hours later the darkness slowly began to creep over the land and they haven't noticed any signs of human activities around the building. No cars arrived, no people could be seen. Sarah and Derek were growing more irritated with each passing hour and showed their discomfort openly. Whenever someone asked or remarked something the other snapped at him.

After it got dark, Sarah finally rolled over on her back, gazed at the dark skies and sighed aloud: "Damn! Nothing yet! I'm going down to see what's going on."

Derek's head snapped up and he looked at her incredulously: "What? I believe that John's words were quite clear. He said to observe and not to do anything else."

Sarah's answer was equally irritated as poisonous: "Yeah, yeah, yeah! He's still my son!"

Derek barked a quiet laugh: "I don't believe it! You try to raise him as a leader of mankind but every time he makes a decision you try to override him with the excuse that he's your son. Damn, woman! He'll never learn how to make correct decisions if you'll question his orders every time! This time he gave us clear instructions and very good ones besides!"

Sarah knew that Derek was right, but the long drive here and additional hours of waiting under the hot sun clouded her judgment, making her extremely irritated and thus more or less insensitive for reasoning. "I have much more experience in such things than he. I say we go in there and see for ourselves what's going on."

"Sure, your experiences are more in the line of blowing things up." Derek snorted. But he already knew that he had lost the battle. Sarah was so damn stubborn that it would only make it worse, should he try to persuade her not to go down there.

Her eyes flickered to him: "Don't you dare, Derek! I guess that you blew up more things than I've seen in my life." She turned over and cast a last look at the building. Then she slowly stood up, although she maintained the hunched position: "Are you coming with me Reese or are you going to wait here?" The mocking in her voice couldn't be overheard.

Derek sighed exasperatedly and shook his head: "Damn the Connors!" Then he got up on his feet and joined Sarah. He knew better than to oppose her further. His task was now to take care that nothing happened to her. John would no doubts skin him alive should anything happen to Sarah and the fact that it was her decision to go against his specific instructions wouldn't change a thing. So he slowly, hunched like Sarah, followed her down the hillside, carefully sweeping the surroundings for possible threats.

Sarah used every rock, every boulder for cover while she descended towards the building. She saw Derek now joining her few feet from her and equally carefully advancing down while checking the perimeter constantly. His eyes were slightly shining in the dusk while he tried to use every hiding opportunity to mask his movements. She grinned inwardly at his reluctant reaction to her decision before. Even before she started down the hillside, she knew that he would follow her without presenting any additional resistance.

Nothing moved in or around the building. There were no lights inside and the windows remained dark. The entrance door remained closed and after few minutes they were near enough to the door to see that it was actually only ajar and not closed properly, although the crack was very narrow. Sarah began to ask herself if the door had been like this all time they've been observing the building from above. From their position up on the ridge they couldn't see it and so she couldn't swear if it was closed before or not. However, she became even more careful and flattened against a large boulder about 20 feet from the building to take a good look at the entrance door.

Derek noticed how Sarah suddenly squeezed herself against a rock and he frantically checked the surroundings to see if she noticed something dangerous that might have escaped him. But then she signaled him towards the door and he carefully looked at it. After he realized what Sarah was hinting at, he slowly nodded at her while hiding behind a large stone. It was smaller than the boulder that Sarah chose and he had to drop on his belly to get hidden behind it.

They remained in their positions for few minutes and checked the front side of the building. The entrance door was on a porch, slightly above the terrain so that it could be accessed over three wide steps. After nothing moved, Sarah slowly got ready to sprint for the door and showed Derek that he should get ready too. He got on his feet and prepared for a start, watching Sarah's hand to give him a sign. The darkness made it almost impossible for him to see what she was doing and he really had to strain his eyes to make her hand out.

Suddenly Sarah's hand moved forward and they both jumped to their feet and sprinted towards the door. It took them only a second to reach them and after jumping over all three steps, they flattened one at each side of the door with their weapons at ready. They waited for few seconds and then Derek signaled Sarah that he'll go in as first. She silently nodded and waited. Her grip at the gun strengthened and she could feel her heart beating faster in her throat in anticipation. For a split second she regretted the decision to storm the house, but the adrenaline rush quickly got the upper hand again and she concentrated on the door again.

Derek quickly pushed off the wall and kicked the door in, just to retreat to his position beside it instantly, while pointing through it with his gun, trying to penetrate the darkness inside. He hesitated to switch on his flashlight. He really didn't want to present a perfect target should anyone be in there, waiting for them. Nothing moved behind the door and he slowly leaned over the door frame, checking one side of the room, while Sarah checked the other side. Still nothing moved and they quickly jumped in and leaned closly against the wall on each side of now wide opened door.

After few seconds, Derek slowly released his breath, he didn't even realize he was holding and contemplated should he now finally turn on the light. The room behind the door was almost completely dark and he really couldn't see a thing. Sure, he would present a better target should he switch on the light, but on the other hand he would be able to see something.

After a short hesitation he finally touched the button on his flashlight to switch it on. After touching it, he hesitated again, but then he decided and pressed it. A ray of bright light illuminated the room and caused a sharp hiss from Sarah: "Damn, Derek!"

He ignored it and quickly swept the light over the room, revealing only emptiness. There was absolutely nothing in the room, but as he turned the light to the side on which Sarah stood, he froze.

Only a foot away from him there was a man, standing rigid and still like a statue, gazing into his eyes intently with completely blank eyes and absolutely no expression on the face. In a second he saw him, Derek knew that it was a machine. No human could stand that still for probably hours and gaze at him like that. It was without any doubt a triple eight. He gasped in surprise and only at the edge of his mind he registered a sharp breath intake from Sarah, followed by a thud and sound of human body collapsing on the floor. _We're so busted!_ The thought crossed his mind, but before he could even flinch, a hard fist connected with his jaw and sent him sprawling over the floor. He lost consciousness even before he began falling down.

* * *

4 hours, 36 minutes, 28 seconds … 29 … 30 … 31

Sudden clank of the metallic door interrupted Cameron's counting of seconds. Since she rebooted, tied to the table and realized that she must have been taken by someone who knew exactly what she was, and after she realized that she should get much more information before she could even begin to work on a plan to escape, she counted the seconds since her reboot. After she realized that she wouldn't be able to break her shackles she ran various scenarios of possible escape, but every single one came out with the same result: 'insufficient data'. She was forced to wait and after she'd gather enough information, she'd be able to work out the plan. Right after reboot, she tried to break her restraints on every imaginable way, but nothing she did had any effect on the ties, that were obviously designed to hold even stronger machines than her, so she realized that this was something she wouldn't be able to do by herself.

After she came to the conclusion that she'd simply have to wait, she began to play back the memories of her time together with John to somehow fill the time before someone would come to her. But such memories, quite unexpectedly, caused her inexplicable pain and after a while she decided that she was no masochist and settled for counting the seconds as the most opportune and neutral method of waiting. It was not an interesting solution to spend the time while waiting for something to happen, but every other possibility was even worse that this one.

After she heard that the door began to open, she tilted her head towards it as far as she could to see who would enter the room. The door slowly swung open and first thing she saw was the barrel of a large gun, probably caliber 50 and she knew that this gun could do her significant damage, maybe even kill her. The barrel slowly glided through the door frame into the room, at its end revealing a soldier in full battle armor, holding the large weapon like it would be his sidearm and looking at her sharply. His face was blank, just like he would be a terminator, only his eyes, sweeping the room and settling on her, revealed that he was human.

After the soldier entered the room, his gun never wavering from her head, and stepped aside to let someone else through, Cameron saw a middle aged man, probably in his forties, wearing no uniform, but a well tailored and expensive looking suit. However, the way he entered the room and the way the soldier acted around him, made it quite clear that he must have been someone important. Maybe he was not an officer, but he was obviously someone with great power and influence. His brown, at temples already graying hair was cut short, but not as short as a military officer would have it. His piercing watery blue eyes settled on her and he stopped just after entering the room to gaze at her intently. His face was face of a man, who'd seen a lot but who'd learned how to control his expression perfectly.

After seeing these two men, Cameron was now almost sure that she didn't fell in the hands of some ragtag team of wannabe professionals. They were definitely no amateurs, but a well organized institution, most probably one branch of the US armed forces. The way the two men were clothed didn't reveal which one they could have belonged to.

After few seconds of silence in which the man obviously pondered his next action and also tried to see if she would react to his presence, he stepped closer to her, but still far enough that she wouldn't be able to reach for him, should she be able to move at all. He was very careful not to step in the line of fire from the soldier's gun, which remained aimed at her head and didn't waver at all.

Cameron decided to wait for the man to speak as first and just looked at him with blank face and tried to hide her feelings and thoughts behind expressionless eyes. If she wanted to get some information, she would have to outsmart him and, judging by the way he was looking at her it wouldn't be exactly the easiest job. The man obviously had experience with interrogation techniques and intimidating of prisoners. But she somehow suspected that he had dealt with a terminator before. There were not so many machines from the future running around and it would be even less probable that one of them could be caught and brought to interrogation. However … they did manage to get her … But she believed that they must have been thoroughly informed how to incapacitate her, while the chances that they knew how to get information out of her remained slim and so his interrogation experiences were perhaps useful in some way, but definitely not applicable to her. She wondered if the man was aware of the difference between interrogating a human prisoner and a machine and hoped that he wasn't.

After another minute of silence, the man's lips suddenly curled into a humorless lopsided smile: "Well, well, well, what do we have here? It seems that the information was correct. You're really a tough one, aren't you?" He touched his chin with a finger and slowly scratched against it. His head tilted a fraction of a degree and his smile widened. Somehow he reminded Cameron of a great white shark, a split second before its jaws would close around the desperately fleeing seal. _Change of roles! Now I'm the prey and he's the hunter!_

"Interesting! Very interesting!" He stepped around the table and Cameron's eyes followed his movements. He stopped on the other side and continued to look at her thoughtfully: "The technology is light years ahead of ours. How can a machine look so human?" He paused again and returned to stand at her feet. His eyes scanned her body, but not in a lustful way. He looked at her more like a mechanic, checking if his greatest creation was truly flawless or not. "Everything's on its place. No flaws, but the ones which make you look like human. Humans aren't perfect and you fit in this description completely."

Cameron's face revealed absolutely nothing and her eyes stared at the man in her coldest fashion. She knew that this was not the moment to interrupt his thoughts and it would be the best to listen to his monologue for a while. Maybe, if she remained quiet und seemingly unaffected, he would say something more. Her original suspicions have just been confirmed; they knew that she was a machine and they must have gotten this information from someone. There were not so many companies or individuals in this time which or who would know about her.

The man suddenly turned to the soldier: "Bring me a chair." His voice was rough and commanding, just like a senior officer would command a novice around. The soldier nodded and vanished through the open door. Few seconds later, another man, this one unarmed, clad in a white laboratory mantle appeared, carrying a chair. He looked at the man in the suit questioningly and received an impatient sigh and a hand gesture where he should bring the chair in response. He stepped over to the man and put the chair down on the designated spot.

After he set it down, he turned to Cameron, who was intently watching him and their eyes locked for a moment. Cameron somehow sensed that this man wasn't evil. He was thoroughly confused as he looked at her and his eyes revealed his insecurity. There was no malice in them, neither could she read it on his face. Suddenly she realized that the man could perhaps be the weak link in this team and decided that she'd try to use everything she learned about how to be a human girl in distress to convince him to help her, should she get a chance.

The man was clearly stunned at the sight of the beautiful teenage girl, who was actually a machine, but looked so perfect and gazed at him so intently. But he couldn't dwell on his thoughts for much longer, for the man in the suit impatiently asked: "Is there something else that you want?"

"N … no, sir." Stammered the man, turned and left the room in a hurry, passing the armed soldier who already retook his position at the door and disappeared through it, but not before he cast her one last look. Cameron could hear a soft snort from the soldier as the man in the lab coat hurried past him out of the door. His eyes for the first time since he entered the room showed some emotion. He apparently noticed the look the other man gave Cameron and found it amusing, so he allowed himself to show his disdain. But she was now sure that she made quite an impression on the lab man and this was the first positive piece of information since they incapacitated her under the mountain.

The man in charge now turned back to her and slowly sat down on the chair, his eyes never leaving her face. After he was seated comfortably, he crossed his legs, reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Slowly, he took one cigarette out, tapped its end gently against the pack and put it into his mouth. He stowed the pack back in the pocket and reached in another pocket. This time he pulled out a lighter and lighted the cigarette. He puffed a large cloud of smoke in Cameron's direction and continued to look at her through it.

Cameron was sure that the man was no smoker. His face twisted slightly in disgust as he drew on a cigarette and she was definitely sure that this was all just an interrogation technique. Puffing cigarette smoke into prisoner's face could sometimes prove effective. She suddenly saw a possibility to begin her 'interrogation'. "It's not healthy to smoke cigarettes. It shortens the life expectancy at the rate of 7 minutes for each smoked cigarette, causes lung cancer and other dangerous diseases, mainly the ones that normally end with death. It also influences the health of the passive smokers who are in your vicinity." Her voice was flat, emotionless and she sounded like a computer, reciting a definition from the encyclopedia.

The man looked at her and his eyes narrowed: "You're a smartass too, machine? I wouldn't expect to get some medical advice from a thing."

Cameron was now in the game and decided to use her every potential so she continued: "I can't help if no one else informed you about the dangers of smoking before. I'm just stating the facts." She paused and added with still completely flat voice: "And I'm not a thing."

This time man's eyes widened slightly and it was more than clear that her last statement surprised him, but apart from lightly widened eyes he managed to hide his surprise perfectly. He thought for a second: "Definition of 'the thing': a material object without life or consciousness; an inanimate object." He looked into her eyes, obviously seeking for a confirmation. "Maybe you overestimate yourself. I don't think that you know the difference between life and programming. You are a programmed machine, following the directives that your creator hardwired into you. I seriously doubt that you have a consciousness. I wouldn't even begin to consider the possibility that you would be alive."

To Cameron it was obvious that the man was challenging her. Her mind was in turmoil. Should she allow him to see her human side or should she remain as robotic as possible? What would be her best chance? She decided to play along the machine line for a little bit longer, at least until she'd found out what they wanted to do with her. So she just stared at him blankly and didn't even bother to answer.

For a few seconds the man stared at her, awaiting her reaction and as it didn't come, his face stretched into his shark grin again, while he nodded to himself: "That's what I thought. You don't understand the meaning of my words. You're just a prefect killing machine, disguised as a beautiful teenage girl. Perfect infiltrator profile. I think that it would be very difficult to find a man who wouldn't allow you in his personal space."

Then he leaned back in his chair, threw a cigarette on the floor and crushed it. However, Cameron noticed his disgust over the tobacco smoke and she grinned inwardly at the sight. He was using the same techniques as if she was human and none of them worked. He realized the wrong approach he'd taken and she now expected him to change his tactics.

The man, now relieved of the smoke, crossed his arms on the chest and looked at her with serious face: "I don't know which god smiled down on us to get something like you in out hands. But it must have been a good one. It's not every day that a perfect robot from the future runs into your hands and gives you the opportunity to dismantle it, study it and make more of them." His eyes suddenly got a faraway look, like he'd been looking into some distant scenery, another time and another place. "Just imagine an army of machines; unbeatable, almost indestructible, completely obedient and completely replaceable machines, marching towards the enemy lines, clearing the path and destroying everything in front of them."

Now Cameron knew what they wanted her for and suddenly irrational fear got the grip on her. Fear that they might succeed in their intentions. She didn't fear for her life. Yes, she was sure that she was alive; John managed to convince her and after she accepted his explanation, she really felt alive. But she feared what it would mean for John. How would he cope, should she not be able to get back to him? Was he still alive at all? She suddenly concentrated on one very important point; she should find out if they knew something about John. If they knew about her, they probably also knew about John.

"Where's the human I was with as you caught me?" She blurted out directly, deciding that it would be completely unacceptable to reveal who he was and what he meant to her. She would pretend that she just found him injured and tried to save him. Being a creature of straightforwardness, she decided for the most direct approach.

The man scrunched his face and looked at her questioningly: "What human?"

Cameron suddenly felt relieved and worried at the same time. It looked like they wouldn't have brought John along. But, leaving him out there in the wilderness could easily cause him to die under the mountain alone, without someone to help him. However, there were still Andrea and Tim. She told Tim where they would go and should they not return, the siblings would probably be looking for them. Maybe there was still hope for John? So she elaborated further without revealing anything about John's true identity.

"I found a man under the mountain. He obviously fell down the slope and was injured. I tried to bring him to help as your men got me. Is that man alive?" Her face was perfectly hiding her fears and her eyes stared coldly at the interrogator.

"They only brought you. No one else." The man explained: "Who was this man?"

"I already told you. Someone whom I found there while I was climbing." Cameron explained in cold voice and looked straight into man's eyes.

The man looked at her suspiciously. There was definitely something fishy about this story, but he didn't know what. "What in the name of hell was a machine doing out there climbing? That's activity for slightly insane humans and not for machines."

"I wanted to try it to see what appeal it has to the humans. It could improve my infiltrator profile." Cameron decided to play the game as a good machine, working under programming to improve its infiltrator skills.

The man still looked at her suspiciously. However, her explanation seemed logical. Should the machine be programmed to fit in the human society perfectly, it would only be understandable that it should know a little about everything that humans do. "And you just happened to run into someone who fell off the rock and decided to help him? Why would you help him? You weren't built to help; you were made to kill!" His eyebrows scrunched in confusion and he looked at Cameron questioningly. _This machine is definitely something special!_

Cameron returned his look with her scary robot face perfectly in place: "We're not built to be cruel. He was no threat and I tried to help him to see if it really brings a satisfaction to you when you help someone like humans tend to say." In her mind she congratulated herself on how believable excuse she managed to find and serve it without showing any insecurity.

This time the man grinned again: "And did it? Did it bring satisfaction?"

"No!" Cameron deadpanned.

The man's grin widened and he nodded: "Well, of course it didn't. It can't bring anything to a machine, which doesn't feel anything."

"It didn't bring any satisfaction because your men attacked and incapacitated me before I could help the man. I don't know if it would bring any satisfaction would I have been able to save him." Cameron clarified her statement further.

Man's grin vanished for a second but then returned and he nodded enthusiastically: "Good answer! I like it! You seem to be even better than we have been told."

Cameron was now really getting curious from whom they could have received the information about her. But at the moment she was satisfied that they obviously didn't know anything about John. They were only after her and that was something she could cope with, as long as John stayed out of the harm's way in relative safety. She just hoped the man wouldn't reconsider and send his team to bring John too. That's why she kept her face perfectly blank all the time. And these people didn't know her good enough to read her eyes like John could. Although she suspected that she managed to make her eyes expressionless like her face. She knew that they would eventually come after her secret, should they take and be able to read her chip, but that was something she would consider when it came that far. Maybe she could partition off those data and firewall it?

"Who are you?" Cameron's suddenly, bluntly asked question seemed to surprise the man and he gazed at her for a second.

"I don't think that it's necessary for you to know. In fact, if I told you, I'd have to kill you." The man's face revealed that he found his bad joke funny and he chuckled quietly at it. "Wait! I'll have to do it anyway. At least a little." His attempt of being funny failed completely and he realized it too. Cameron's blank face, staring back at him like a mask didn't reveal anything, but it suited his failure perfectly, only underlining it.

He leaned back again and sighed: "Well, actually we're the good guys. And you … you are one of the bad guys. You're the one who's trying to stop our development. You're the one who blew up Cyberdyne company. The fairy tale of Sarah Connor was really a convincing one, but hard evidence says differently. And we cannot tolerate such terrorists."

Now it was Cameron's turn to become stunned for a second. What the man told her was a perfect fabrication and it only proved that there were some very powerful and dark forces active, conducting everything from behind while staying in the complete darkness. How could she have been the one to blow up Cyberdyne? She wasn't even in this time when Sarah Connor organized the raid at the Cyberyne company which ended in a massive explosion, destroying every evidence of terminators, interfering with the timeline and cost Miles Dyson his life! But her face and her eyes revealed absolutely nothing. She believed that the man felt too safe and could probably tell her more than he intended to.

"We will allow the FBI and the police to continue chasing the ghost, the scapegoat, while we concentrate on the real threat, but also on the real prize. You!" The man's finger pointed at her.

Cameron was now sure that it will be even more difficult to escape from here than she anticipated. These guys were probably military intelligence, possibly one officially non-existent unit, which's existence was unknown even to the armed forces with exception of a handful of high officials and generals. And they were more that obviously perfectly organized and equipped. But they did have one weak point: their information was not exactly 100% correct. Maybe she could make use of it. Besides that fact, there were definitely some weak links, like the man who brought in the chair. Maybe they weren't all bad guys. Maybe she could find some ally. Now that she knew they were not after John as well, she gained new hope to somehow be able to get out of here and return to her fiancée. But until she found a way, she'd just pretend to be a cold machine, acting exclusively according to her programming. She knew that they would be even keener on dismantling her, should she show them her human side.

The man was still looking at her, trying to read anything from her face, but after few minutes of a staring contest, he lowered his gaze in defeat. Cameron almost smiled at that. There was absolutely no way of winning a staring contest with her. Well, except maybe John could win it. She remembered the many times Derek tried to hold his ground and failed, eventually making her day. She definitely missed those staring contests with Derek. Ever since they returned from the winter vacation, Derek avoided them and she also didn't want to initiate them, no matter how much she missed annoying Derek Reese.

"That's enough small talk for now. Unfortunately it's getting late and there are no more scientists around so we'll have to postpone the start of our studies for tomorrow." The man grinned at her wickedly: "I hope you don't mind being chained to the table. It's only for your safety. You might get hurt should you try anything stupid." He then turned to the soldier with the gun: "You can make a break too. The machine's not going anywhere. The restraints are strong enough to keep the F16 under full thrust in place."

The soldier nodded and spoke for the first time: "Should I report tomorrow morning here too?"

The man shook his head: "No, it won't be necessary. Just make sure that No. 2 will be here on time to incapacitate her. He should be here at 6 am. We'll bring the machine into the lab and we can hardly do it when it's not turned off." His eyes flickered towards Cameron again as if to check if she was still safely chained to the table. "You can never be careful enough, especially with something like this."

The soldier nodded again and stepped out of the room. The man in the suit stayed behind for a second and looked at Cameron. Then he slightly shook his head, stepped towards the door and put his hand on the switch for the light. He hesitated for a second and then switched the light off. "I believe you won't mind the darkness. We have to conserve the energy, you know … the orders from above." His right hand pointed towards the ceiling and his voice was dripping with sarcasm. He was on his battlefield again and it was obvious that he enjoyed his little game.

Cameron was unimpressed by his words or deeds. It was completely the same to her in the dark. She could change to night vision, should it be necessary. But being alone in the room it really didn't make any sense for her to use her energy for something completely useless. She averted her eyes from the man and stared at the ceiling.

The man grinned once again and left the room, closing the door behind him.

TBC

* * *

_A/N_

_As you could have noticed, this chapter is much longer than previous ones. I decided to reduce the number of chapters and merge two successive chapters into one. I've also removed the titles of separate chapters, for they wouldn't make any sense more since every chapter will handle more storylines at once._


	8. Chapter 7

_Thanks for your feedback. I know that many things don't give any sense right now. In the following chapters there will be even more situations, which will seem completely senseless. I can promise that everything will be explained at due time in later chapters, even if you now think that it's stupid or unbelievable. Unbelievable … when speaking of it … well, I think that it's quite possible to restrain a terminator. In present even easier than in the future when the resources will be scarce. Why keeping Cameron alive? Everything will be clarified later._

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Damn!" Tim cursed under the breath as he stumbled upon a protruding root for the umpteenth time. The flashlight helped him to see where he was going but he still managed to catch almost every hidden branch or root with his arms and feet. It's been about half an hour since he left the cabin in search of Cameron and John. Meanwhile it got completely dark in the forest and to his greatest annoyance, it was exactly new moon and the pale light of the stars didn't help him to see any better, making him completely dependent on the flashlight.

He knew approximately where to look, but in the darkness the orientation was much more difficult than in the broad daylight and he had no other possibility but to follow the path. Not that he would know the area at all, but he had a general idea where the mountains were and rough direction where Cameron and John might have gone. He even managed to find the beginning of climbing routes but there was no one there.

He had a gnawing feeling that he might have taken another path to reach the mountainside than his friends and it made him stop for a second. But after short hesitation, he continued his search, knowing that it would only confuse him further, should he decide to take another path.

His foot caught a large stone, causing him to stumble again and curse aloud. He almost sprawled across the ground and flailed with his arm to keep the balance and prevent the fall. Just few minutes ago he left the rocky face of the mountain and returned to the area, covered with more vegetation. He crossed a steep scree slope and as he twice almost slipped into the abyss, he thought that this could become quite dangerous, so he concentrated on the path and every time he had to take a look around, he stopped first, took good care to stand solidly with both feet on the ground and then lighted everything around him.

Once back between the trees, he sighed in annoyance, noticing that due to quite thick vegetation, he couldn't see more than few feet into any direction. The trees and bushes omitted his view and made the search even more difficult. But it was at least easier to walk. If only there were not so many protruding roots!

He carefully scanned the particularly dense bush area and sighed after he didn't found anything again. He already took a step forward as something caught his mind. There was something behind a large rock that he didn't took a notice before, just at the edge of the light cone. He turned the flashlight directly towards the rock formation and made few steps towards it. He suddenly stopped and gasped in shock. There was definitely a human foot, protruding from behind the rock. For a second he froze, not really knowing what to do. Should he approach or not? Was the person behind the rock alive or not? Could it be dangerous? These and similar questions shot through his mind before he decided to approach carefully. The foot didn't move and luckily, he could make a large curve around the rock.

He almost subconsciously kept his steps as light and silent as possible and padded slowly across the grass field, while directing the flashlight at the foot. After few seconds he finally came so far that he also saw a leg and then the hip and then …

His gasp, as he saw the person, lying behind the rock, was more like a cry than a gasp. His eyes widened in horror as he recognized John's face. His friend was lying there like dead, one of his legs was provisionally immobilized with the help of branches and rope and he looked quite beaten up. He jumped the few steps to him and kneeled beside him. For a second he hesitated to touch him, not really knowing if he should hope or fear.

His hand suddenly shot out and checked for the heartbeat at John's wrist. His face strained in anticipation of the result and relaxed almost immediately after his fingers registered the beating of John's heart. He was alive, albeit unconscious. Relieved, he let himself fall back on his heels and exhaled deeply. He wasn't even aware that he was holding his breath.

But just a moment later he panicked again: where was Cameron? How could John get over here with obviously broken leg, but there was no trace of Cameron? He jumped up again and tried to penetrate the darkness to see if she was anywhere near. After few minutes of searching the immediate vicinity of the place where he found John, he sighed frustrated. There was absolutely no trace of Cameron and he supposed he would have to wait for John to wake up to ask him.

He reached for his phone and tried to wake it up from stand-by, not really thinking about anything. In a second he forgot that Andrea destroyed her phone and trying to call Cameron wouldn't help. They both tried it before and her phone was inaccessible all the time. But still, he frantically pushed at the button on the phone, just to get a message that it was empty. "Shit! The radio!" He remembered that he listened to the radio before and obviously emptied the battery. For a second he tried to think of some solution, but quickly realized that there was actually only one: he would have to run back to the cabin, lead Andrea here and together they could try to bring John back to the cabin and get help. After reaching this decision, he checked upon John once again just to make sure. John was still alive, but also still unconscious.

For a second he thought what if John would wake up while he was away and quickly checked his pockets if he had anything on him to leave it with John, giving him the sign that someone had been here. Unfortunately his pockets were completely empty. A sudden thought came to his mind and he bowed over John to check his pockets. They were empty too and Tim noticed that he had no mobile phone either. "Fuck! Absolutely no luck today!"

Then he straightened with resolute face. There was no more time to lose and he decided to run to the cabin as fast as the night allowed. He had no medical education at all, but he believed that John's condition wasn't exactly the best. And with Cameron missing he was probably John's only hope. He might not be a hero but in this very moment he acted like one.

While he ran for the cabin the branches whipped his face every now and then but he didn't fully register them. His mind worked in overdrive while his eyes struggled to find a way through the forest, possibly without breaking any limbs. The light from the flashlight danced around wildly, following erratic movement of his hand, waggling with every step he took. It wasn't the best way to keep oneself uninjured, but it was the only effective way to get to Andrea as fast as possible.

He had been running for about five minutes now and he still wasn't sure if he chose the correct path. The surroundings didn't seem very familiar, and he wasn't sure if it was the same path he took before. Suddenly his foot caught a root that was even more dangerously exposed than the others, forming a bow, just few inches above the ground. In next moment the flashlight was torn from his hand and flew forward into the bush, while his upper body followed the law of inertia and before he could properly react, he was lying on the ground, nose in the fallen leaves, grass and debris. It hurt like hell and he had to wait for few seconds that all the stars he was now seeing faded away and to blink away the tears that formed in his eyes from pain. "Oh, fuck the forest!" He cursed aloud while he checked his nose to see if it was broken. With significant relief he discovered that it wasn't, it just hurt terribly. After wiping away the rest of the tears, he arduously lifted himself in the upright position and checked other extremities for possible injuries. He felt like he'd have boxed ten rounds with Mike Tyson in his best days but luckily nothing was broken, just painful to the touch. He probed his nose again and hissed in sudden pain that shot through his brain. "Very well Tim. You managed to fall like a log without breaking anything. Now get going!" He encouraged himself quite aloud while he stretched his leg that got caught under the root to ease the painfully strained muscles.

He panted for few seconds bowed forward with hands leaned against the knees, looking at the ground. Then he straightened up and stepped towards the flashlight which flew few yards further. As he bent over to pick it up, a pain seared through his back again, but he ignored it and continued his run.

After few minutes, the pain lessened enough that he could run normally. He already saw a light from the cabin and accelerated to get there as soon as he could.

The second he reached the door of the cabin, he hammered heavy against it while yelling: "Open, Andrea, it's me. We've got an emergency! Open the damn door!"

While still hammering against the door, he could hear Andrea inside, running for the door and the next moment it opened, to reveal his completely flabbergasted sister. Before she could even open her mouth he hurried with his explanation: "I've found John in the forest. He's unconscious. His leg is broken. Cameron disappeared." Then he made a short pause to get some air but continued again before Andrea managed to say anything: "Come with me! We have to bring him here!"

Andrea nodded without a word, pulled the key out of the door, slamming it behind her as she followed Tim, who was already on his way back to John. "Wait! You're too fast! I can't follow you!" She screamed after her brother, afraid that he would simply run ahead and forget about her. She had no flashlight and she definitely didn't want to get lost in the forest in the night.

Tim realized that he was running too fast for Andrea and stopped, turned around to look where she was and waited. As soon as she joined him, he smiled at her apologetically: "Sorry, sis', I'm so worried that I simply forgot."

"It's OK, I understand. "Andrea nodded and finally got the chance to ask him about John while they jogged through the forest: "What happened to them?"

Tim explained, in between his labored breaths, what he found and what he did. He kept the explanation as short as possible not to waste too much strength.

"But … where's Cameron?" Andrea couldn't believe that her friend could simply be gone.

"No idea. She wasn't there and I couldn't search for her longer. I had to get you to help me. After we get John, we'll see if we can find her too."

Andrea seemed satisfied with his explanation, at least for a moment and she just nodded while keeping Tim's pace.

After few minutes of tiring run through the dark forest, they reached the spot where Tim found John, both panting heavily from the efforts. They definitely weren't in best physical shape, but the seriousness of the situation boosted their capabilities into unseen heights.

Tim broke through the last bush before reaching the clearing and instantly noticed that John was now leaning against the rock. He obviously regained his consciousness and propped himself into seating position. It was too dark to see his face and Tim didn't direct his lamp at John. But he could see that John's face was turned into their direction. He stopped abruptly and Andrea, who was running behind him, crashed into his back unceremoniously and groaned upon impact: "Damn, Tim, don't stop like that!" She didn't see John, because Tim covered him. Now she sidestepped her brother and finally saw John, now lit by the flashlight, looking at them in surprise. "JOHN! You're awake!" She exclaimed loudly, instantly forgetting that she was just a second ago mad at her brother. She ran over to John and kneeled beside him: "How are you? Are you all right?"

John looked at her with confusion written all over his face and didn't answer at first. He regained consciousness just a minute ago and he was still heavy under influence of what he thought was a nightmare coming true. He remembered that he awoke before and remembered that Cameron disappeared. He remembered that he found two pieces of wire … hell, he still clutched them in his fist! He remembered his deduction of the situation and he also remembered that it sent him into hyperventilation and unconsciousness. But he didn't know where Andrea and Tim came from. So he stared into Andrea's worried face for a second: "How the hell? Where do you come from?" His eyes searched her face for some explanation.

Andrea became even more worried: "John. Do you know who I am?" _Did he suffer the amnesia?_

John waved his hand impatiently, causing him to flinch in pain: "Of course I know, Andrea! I just don't know how did you find me?" He scanned the lit area: "Have you seen Cameron?"

Andrea was at the same time relieved and depressed; relieved that John's brain was obviously working normal and depressed because it definitely looked like Cameron disappeared without a trace. Secretly she hoped that John could help them in finding Cameron or at least tell them what happened to her. She shook her head: "I have no idea where she is. Tim found you few minutes ago and ran to get me to help him bring you back."

John needed a second to digest her information and felt how his heart sank. Cameron was definitely missing and he felt a sharp pain in his chest, albeit not connected with his injuries. He continued to gaze into Andrea's eyes, but his face suddenly scrunched in pain … both physical and emotional. "Do you have a phone? I have to call her and my phone is shattered!"

Andrea looked down for a second and it didn't escape John. Is something wrong? Then she reluctantly looked into his eyes again and swallowed heavily before answering him: "I tried to call her a few times but I couldn't reach her. Her phone is inaccessible all the time."

John's hopes crumpled into nothing. Cameron never switched off her phone and with each new bit of information it became clearer that she must have been taken. He sighed raggedly: "Shit! But I still need the phone to call my mom."

Andrea looked at Tim: "Well, big brother, do you have your phone?" Then she turned back to John and explained apologetically: "I fell in the water and ruined my phone."

Tim scrunched his face: "My phone's empty! I tried it before and I couldn't call anyone." He reached into the pocket to show them the empty phone, but froze like a statue with his hand still in the pocket. "SHIT!" His jaw almost hit the ground and he stared at John with wide opened eyes.

"What? What's wrong?" John tried to turn a little to be able to look at him and hissed in pain again.

"I lost it! Damn! I lost my phone!" Tim found his voice again.

"Great! Just great! We're stuck here in the middle of nowhere with no phone and my fiancée is missing! Could this fucking day get any worse?" John rolled his eyes in frustration.

"We'll deal with it later. Now we have to get you to the hospital." Andrea interrupted his train of thoughts and looked at his leg worriedly.

"No! No hospital! Just get me back to the cabin." John stopped her seriously, although a slight note of discomfort could be traced in his voice.

Andrea turned to him in astonishment: "But John! You're injured, your leg is broken and we have absolutely no medical education. We have to get you to the hospital."

John looked into her eyes firmly and shook his head slightly: "No, Andrea. No hospital. Maybe there's a doctor in the village and he could help me. But no hospital!"

Andrea was slowly losing her patience: "Why the hell don't you want to go to the hospital." Then a thought crossed her mind: "Are you a fugitive? Are you a criminal?"

Tim was listening to the discussion with open mouth and was trying to understand what was going on. John, as heavily injured as he was, was declining to go to the hospital. "I guess that you'll have to give us something more than just 'no hospital' John. You know yourself that your explanations are not exactly thorough. So … why no hospital?" He looked at John challengingly.

John sighed and his eyes darted from Andrea to Tim: "It's a long story and I don't think you'd believe me." Then he turned to face Andrea: "No, I'm not a criminal, nor a fugitive. But there are some institutions and some private companies that are after me."

Andrea looked ultimately unconvinced: "Yeah and Santa Claus is visiting me this year, climbing down the chimney that I don't even have! No, John, sorry, but that's simply too vague. You'll have to explain it to us a little bit believably."

John looked down. He was really not in a position to bargain; Cameron was gone, his leg and few of his ribs were broken, he was far away from civilization and he was unable to contact anyone he trusted completely. Andrea and Tim seemed to become suspicious, all due to his reluctance to go to the hospital and, considering the fact that they were seemingly his only chance to get out of this situation, he would have to tell them something believable to convince them that he was no criminal. He cursed himself for not thinking of this possibility before; if he did, he'd have a cover story prepared for such case, but so … he was in no position to develop a believable story in blink of an eye, especially not in such condition as he was now. To tell them the truth, of course heavily edited, would be the most opportune solution. But there was something he would definitely not do: he could not reveal Cameron's true nature to them. That was simply too dangerous. He looked up into Andrea's eyes and noticed that she looked like she would be waiting for him to tell her his story. Tim squatted beside her and looked at him with undefined expression on his face, somewhere between annoyance, distrust and curiosity.

"OK, I'll tell you why I don't want to go to the hospital. But I have to warn you: it will all sound completely unbelievable and you'll probably think that I'm crazy." He stopped and swallowed. His ribs were hurting a little less now and he gradually got used to the dull pain in his leg.

"Try us. How can you predict our reaction if you don't tell us?" Tim's voice was completely serious as he looked at John.

John swallowed once more and began: "First I'd like to ask you not to interrupt me and listen to me until I'm finished." He chuckled humorlessly: "It hurts to talk, so I hope that I'll be able to tell you the whole story. After I'm through you can ask, but I must warn you that there are some things I cannot tell you. Some because I may not, some because I myself have no answer to them. Agreed?" He looked at the siblings expectantly.

Andrea and Tim looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Then Andrea turned back to John: "Yeah, we can do that."

John nodded and began his explanation of carefully filtered and adjusted version of what is going to happen in the future: "In the near future the computer program, named Skynet, will become sentient and it will take over all communication and military systems and launch a nuclear attack on humans. According to the information I have, about three billion people will die in this first strike. But it will be just the beginning. Skynet will begin to build machines in many variants, also in humanoid form named terminators. These machines will have only one purpose – to wipe out the human race. The war between men and machines will begin and as far as I know it will go on for a few decades. There will be human resistance, but in the beginning it will consist of an insignificant bunch of few half crazy warriors, trying to fight back, while the armies of all countries will be more or less wiped out.

"After initial losses, which will decimate human population even further, a leader of the mankind will take over the resistance and he will unite all separately operating cells, guiding them in their struggle against the machines. Don't ask me how, because I have no idea. The human resistance will begin to gain ground and Skynet will try to counter with something unexpected – it will develop a time machine, capable of sending humans or terminators through time. It will attempt to kill this leader in the past, so that he wouldn't be born at all, or at least to wipe him out before he could begin his quest. That's what I've been told by the people, who travelled back through time in effort to prevent anything of this to happen. But all such Skynet's tries failed and only created new timelines, which all ended in the same result: Judgment day."

John stopped for a second to catch breath. His injuries were making him weak and talking wore him out additionally. He coughed and cursed himself in the same moment as sharp pain shot through his chest. His broken ribs were claiming their toll and he realized that he'd have to be very careful. If one of them would puncture his lungs … He didn't even want to think about it. But he had to persuade the siblings that he was making the right decision by trying to avoid the hospital.

So far, Andrea and Tim looked at him with skepticism. What he had explained was very close to the wildest science fiction, although it might not seem completely impossible to them. Especially Tim was quite fond of such genre, more in a form of movies and TV shows than the novels, but still … he was open to new ideas and what John explained seemed to him just like one of the movies.

Andrea was more reserved and already opened her mouth to ask something, thinking that John was finished, as he stopped her with slightly raised hand and continued: "Skynet's initial idea was to send back terminator to kill the leader's mother before he would even be conceived and it actually followed that plan at first. However, the leader managed to send back a soldier to protect his mother and he managed to destroy the terminator who was after the leader's mother, however, he died at doing it. Later, another terminator was sent back to kill the leader as a kid, but it failed too. As up till now, there are still terminators from the future, searching for this leader with only one mission: to kill him and assure that Skynet wins." John paused again and breathed elaborately.

"And this leader is supposed to be you, right?" Andrea's voice rang through sudden silence like a gunshot. John's and Tim's eyes snapped to her in shock.

"B … b … but?" John managed only that much.

Andrea smirked at him: "I thought you would have realized by now that I'm not as stupid as you might think. Look … if I chose to believe your story …" She raised her finger and looked at John resolutely: "And I stress the 'IF'! So … IF I chose to believe your story then that's the only logical explanation. I've always thought that there was something mysterious around you and your family, but never thought more of it. But now … after hearing this story … no matter how impossible it might sound, I'm inclined to believe that you're not telling us some bullshit."

"How? I mean … why would you believe me?" John was still completely flabbergasted and he looked at Andrea with wide open eyes. He expected them to be more inclined to call him a liar, not to consider his story so seriously.

Andrea grinned at him sadly: "I read the newspapers and watch the news. This human race is ready for a Judgment day. So much criminal, so much devious behavior, so much injustice … it won't simply go away by pretending that we don't see it." She sighed heavily: "I'm not a religious person, but I believe that we're walking the thin line between peace and cataclysm. We're about to harvest what we and our predecessors have sown." She paused and looked at astonished faces of her brother and friend: "What? Do you disagree?"

Both men just shook their heads in quiet disbelief over the words Andrea just mouthed. They knew that she wasn't just another dumb blonde, but they still didn't expect such considerations from her.

"I guess that behind this … how'd you named it? Skynet?" John nodded and as Andrea saw it, she nodded back: "Well, I'd say that there's the military behind this all." She put a finger on her lips and looked thoughtfully into John's eyes. "I just don't know if they're able to develop something like that on their own. I guess they're outsourcing the research to some specialized companies, eager to make business with the armed forces. Companies, prepared to go over dead bodies for good money, of course. I'd say that these companies are the ones that are behind you." She paused and added as afterthought: "Besides these machines, terminators, from the future. Even though I still find it very difficult to believe that there could be some machines, pretending to be human."

John finally managed to find his voice again: "Andrea, you got it all right. I'm impressed. Really!"

Andrea smiled back at him. "Well, let this be a lesson for you not to judge the intelligence of a woman based on the color of her hair. They might surprise you. In positive, but sometimes also in negative sense. You know … not all blondes are dumb and not all dark haired ones are intelligent" Then she got up to her feet: "I guess that you managed to conditionally convince me. I'm sure that you're still hiding a lot and that you only told us the heavily edited truth, but I guess that I'll have to live with that … at least for a while."

Tim also got up so that now John looked at them both with head inclined back and it caused another wave of pain in his neck. He realized that it hurt too. "Are you going to help me?"

"With what? Getting back to the cabin or preventing the Judgment day?" Tim looked at John with still not quite convinced expression.

"I guess that I could ask you for both." John tried to grin but failed miserably. The emotional pain over loosing Cameron sat deep in his heart and prevented him from experiencing satisfaction or even happiness at the moment. "But for the time being, I think that getting back to the cabin would be the most urgent matter."

Tim nodded and looked at Andrea: "I think that John's right. We should bring him back to the cabin. I just don't know how. I'm reasonably sure that he can't walk and I'm also reasonably sure that we can't carry him." Then he suddenly knitted his eyebrows and turned to John: "Speaking of carrying … how the hell have you managed to come here? You definitely didn't injure yourself here. What happened actually?" It came to him that they hadn't even asked John what happened.

John sighed: "I fell off the rock. Cameron must've helped me. I was unconscious and have absolutely no idea what happened until I woke up alone."

"Cameron? With her 110 pounds? How could she drag you up here? It's quite far from the rock." Tim murmured in awe and shook his head in disbelief.

Andrea looked like her brain would be working in overdrive and she suddenly began to connect John's story and her experiences with Cameron from their winter vacation. She looked directly into John's eyes, ignoring her brother's murmuring.

John saw in her eyes that she realized something about Cameron and was suddenly worried that she might react in a wrong way. He returned her look pleadingly and shook his head almost invisibly. _Damn! She is too smart! I hope she won't blurt it out._

Andrea noticed John's pleading look and realized that he knew that she came up with the truth about his fiancée. As much as it astonished her, she didn't mind if Cameron was really a machine, sent from the future. She got to know the girl Cameron first and she learned to love her as a friend. If she was not human, well … she'd learn to live with it too. She nodded back to John and smiled slightly as if conveying him a message: "Your secret is safe with me." She decided that she'd confront John with this fact as soon as they were alone. Somehow she believed that Tim should not be informed about her suspicions just now.

Then she looked at her brother, who was still trying to find a solution how to bring John back to the cabin, grinned at his thoughtful face and turned back to John: "I guess this way to the cabin will be a pure torture for you. Do you think you could stand on your good leg?"

John pursed his lips and looked at her with raised eyebrows: "I guess there's only one way to find out. Just take care of my ribs. I think that some of them are broken." He paused for a second and continued with strained voice, carrying the unmistakable pleading note: "How about Cameron? Will you try to find her too?"

Andrea nodded: "Of course! But we have to get you back to the cabin first." She looked around. The darkness didn't allow her to see anything beyond immediate surroundings, lit by their flashlight so she turned to Tim, who was still holding the only source of light: "Tim, you'll have to help us."

Tim looked at her and then at John and a realization dawned on him. He nodded: "OK, I'll take his left side, you take his right."

They stepped to John and squatted beside him. They carefully laid their arms around his back, positioning his over their shoulders. Before they got up, Andrea looked at him: "Ready? It will hurt. A lot!"

"Thanks for comforting me:" John couldn't hide sarcasm in his voice. Then he added: "Yeah, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's do it."

The moment they began to rise, John felt how his whole body screamed in pain. It was like he'd be impaled by a glowing sword and the pain, radiating from his left leg caused him to grunt aloud. Even his clenched teeth couldn't prevent him from loudly expressing his agony. The siblings slowly lifted him into upright position, leaning on his right leg, which was about the only part of his body that didn't hurt like hell. He tried to keep his left leg in the air and thanked the god that his left knee was not injured. He also thanked Cameron for immobilizing his broken leg so thoroughly. _Cameron! Where are you? Who took you? I swear, I won't rest until I've got you back, love! If I were only not so damn stupid! I should have listened to you as you said no to my idea. But no! I had to push it through! Well … there's no use crying over spilt milk. What's done is done and I can't undo it. But I will do everything that it takes to be with you again! I promise!_ He was on the verge of tears; not only because of excruciating pain, but also because of the recognition, that someone took his Cameron away from him. Andrea's worried voice barely penetrated his mind: "How are you holding John? Will you survive?"

"Yeah! I'll live. Just get me to the cabin. Once there, we'll see what we can do." John pressed through clenched teeth with strained voice. He was actually happy for the pain; it diverted his thoughts from Cameron and occupied him with something else besides mulling over what happened to her. He didn't know if he'd make it to the cabin without losing his consciousness again, but he'd sure try to. Once there, he'd have to make a plan how to contact his mother and Derek and especially, how to find and save Cameron. _I'll find you, Cam! No matter how long it will take, I'll find you!_

XXXXXXXXXX

The first thing that Derek registered upon regaining his consciousness was that he was wet. Actually he wasn't wet; he was soaked from head to toe. With considerable effort he forced his eyes open just to see the terminator, which knocked him unconscious before in that damned building in the middle of nowhere, standing in front of him and gazing at him. He tried to wipe his eyes, but noticed immediately that he was sitting on the chair with his arms tied behind his back. After few seconds he also realized that his legs and feet were tied to the chair with plastic cable ties that made every move, every effort to get free, painful. The more he tugged at them, the more they seemed to constrict around his limbs and cut into his skin. Few wide belts across his torso fixed him to the back of a chair. He needed only few seconds to realize that he was effectively immobilized and couldn't do anything to get free.

The terminator continued to stare at him with empty eyes and Derek's efforts to break the restrains made absolutely no impression on it. The machine didn't even move its eyes. Derek suddenly thought of how different Cameron was, compared to this machine. Even before she allowed them to see her emotions, even in the times when she acted robotically, she looked more alive than this T-888.

"Damn the stupidity!" Sarah's angry voice from his right side interrupted his thoughts and his head snapped to look into direction from which her voice came. He saw that she was tied to the chair too, just like him, about six feet away from him on his right side. Water dripped from her hair and her clothes were soaked, just like his. _Why are we so wet?_ He couldn't understand why they both would be completely soaked. He couldn't remember being in any water. Hell, they have been caught in the desert and water there is normally a scarce and valuable asset, one you don't throw away to soak wet your captives. Then he suddenly noticed two buckets at the wall and realized that the terminator probably woke them up with the help of a bucket, full of water.

As Sarah turned to look at him with furious eyes, he opened his mouth to say something, but she snapped at him, before a single word could leave his mouth. "Don't! Don't say 'I warned you'! Don't you dare saying that John gave us very specific orders!"

Derek looked at her, his mouth agape, understanding instantly that it wasn't him against whom she directed her anger. She was mad at herself for falling into such situation just because of her stubbornness. She knew very well that this situation occurred because of it and because of her conviction that she always knew the best solution. He could see on her face that she was completely aware of the situation and rubbing salt into wounds would probably only bring her over the edge on which she definitely already was. So he decided that he would not mention that they were most probably in this situation because of her decision to disobey John's orders. He closed his mouth and looked at her for a long moment. "I won't say anything, Sarah. We should try to find a way out and not accuse each other."

Sarah just wanted to answer him as they both noticed the movement, coming from the triple eight. The machine now stepped closer to them and its head swiveled from one to another. Its face remained stoic and void of any emotions as it looked first at Sarah and then at Derek.

Derek felt how anger flared up in him and he spat at the machine: "What do you want, metal? Fuck off!"

The machine kept its gaze directed at Derek and after a long moment, so long that Derek already thought he wouldn't get any answer, it stated in a cold voice: "I cannot 'fuck off' as you stated. My mission is to get information out of you. I will retrieve them, regardless of your resistance."

Derek barked a dry laugh: "Yeah, I bet you think so. But I've got news for you, tin can! I've been interrogated by the machines before and they didn't succeed." He suddenly stopped and remembered how he'd been interrogated by Cameron and realized that he wasn't telling exactly the truth. But this terminator surely had no idea of Cameron and so he decided to pretend further. "You can try anything you want; you won't get any results."

The machine looked at him coldly and slightly tilted its head before it slowly turned to Sarah:" Where is John Connor?"

Sarah laughed bitterly: "Right to the point, aren't we? Ask the ten million dollars question first." She snorted: "Are you really that stupid to believe I'd ever tell you where he is? Never! Not in my lifetime!" She was raising her voice and her last words were almost shouted while small drops of saliva flew towards the machine.

However, it remained completely unfazed by her words and continued to look at her like a human would look at an insignificant, but highly annoying mosquito. "Where is John Connor?"

"Sure, you think that by repeating you're going to force me to tell you something. Oh no, you won't!" Sarah voice was maintaining its volume, just below the shouting level.

"Where is John Connor?"

"Don't you try breaking me using some stupid psychological tricks! I've been in Pescadero, I know how this works." Sarah's voice didn't waver.

"Where is John Connor?" The machine spoke it in the same manner as the first time, just its head tilted slightly as it kept its gaze directly into Sarah's eyes, which were burning towards it.

Sarah laughed nervously: "You're just a machine! You have no idea what we humans are capable of!"

"Where is John Connor?"

Sarah felt how irrational anger grew in her with each passing second. She was well aware that it was exactly what the machine intended to achieve, but she couldn't help herself and she screamed at it, with many drops of saliva flying out of her mouth almost reaching the machine's face: "I'll never tell you, you fucking son of a bitch! NEVER!"

Derek looked at this strange interrogation worriedly and decided that it already went too far. "Sarah, calm down! Don't let it get to you. It's exactly what it wants and you're playing its game. Stop it!" His voice was calm, although he felt anything but calm. But he knew that raising his voice would only push Sarah further over the edge. He wondered how the machine could get to Sarah so quickly. She wasn't a type of woman, who'd react to the psychological pressure like that. Unless … a sudden thought crossed his mind. Unless they gave her some drug, that would make her more sensitive to psychological games and lower her self control level. If that was the case, then it would be more than understandable that Sarah reacted so strong. But he wondered why he didn't feel any different than normal. Perhaps they gave the drug only to Sarah? Perhaps they believed she was the one to break down sooner and give them the answers? Well, they were in for a surprise then! Sarah Connor would never reveal anything about her son to the machines and their collaborators. With drughs or without them.

The machine now averted its gaze from Sarah and stepped to Derek. It stopped directly in front of him, looking coldly into his defiant eyes and in the next moment Derek saw all stars. After they slowly vanished, he realized that the machine slapped him. It was a gentle slap for the machine, but it nevertheless almost tore his head off and he knew that it would leave an ugly bruise. With his tongue he probed the inner side of his mouth, already tasting the blood. He checked his teeth and found out relieved that they were still all in place, but his gums and inner side of his cheek had obviously been torn open by the slap and blood seeped slowly from open wounds. He spat the blood and grinned at the machine: "Nice job, tin can. You left all my teeth in place."

The machine gazed at him for another second: "It can be corrected immediately." Then it turned back to Sarah and approached her again.

Sarah heard Derek's warning and she knew that he was right. But she simply had no control over her reactions and she already prepared the snarling answer, as the machine stepped over and slapped him so that his head almost touched his shoulder. In that instant her anger flared up again and after the machine turned back to her she snarled at it: "Bastard! You won't get any answers from me!"

The machine was absolutely unaffected by her snarling and it only tilted its head again: "Where is John Connor?"

Sarah fought furiously to get her anger under control and gradually managed to suppress her primeval urge to scratch the face of the machine, to hit it with everything she got. In a little still sane corner of her mind, she realized that they must have done something to her to loosen her emotional control. Perhaps a drug or something like that. She remained silent for few seconds, trying to calm down enough not to lash out on the machine. Then she grinned: "If you think that your method will work, you're completely wrong. You can repeat the question as long as you want, it will not bring anything. It will not make me tell you anything!"

The machine's head was now tilted to one side at the completely unnatural angle. It gazed at Sarah's grinning face like it would be considering its options after Sarah obviously managed to suppress her anger and calmed down significantly. To fight the effect of the drug so successfully was something it didn't expect from a female human.

The silence was interrupted by Derek's soft chuckling: "Well done Sarah! I knew you could do it!"

Sarah turned to him and grinned: "I guess they must've given me something to lose control and tell them what they wanted to hear. But they made a mistake. Sarah Connor doesn't allow something like that to happen to her."

Derek had to grin at the situation. Here they were, tied to chairs, being interrogated by a terminator and they still found a way to make ironic jokes at their misery. He knew that their chances of getting out alive were slim. Maybe it was exactly that fact that made their minds work like they did; sarcastic and defiant. But before they could continue their conversation, the machine stepped closer to Sarah and grabbed her neck in an iron grip.

Sarah gagged and found herself suddenly unable to breathe. As the machine grabbed her she just exhaled and was now left without any air in her lungs.

The machine looked at her mercilessly: "If you don't talk you will be terminated. You are useless."

Derek looked wide-eyed at gagging Sarah, whose face was quickly getting red and was visibly trembling under the iron grip of the machine. He yelled at it and tried to stand up, together with the chair, just to find out that the chair was screwed to the floor and he could do nothing else but fight against his restraints and yell at the machine.

Sarah felt how her lungs burned without oxygen and her efforts to breathe were met with complete failure. She tried to struggle, but her vision blurred more and more while the hand on her throat squeezed tighter and tighter. She slowly began to lose her consciousness and knew that when the darkness claimed her it would be the last thing she'd know of.

In the wake of perdition, she suddenly felt completely calm and her last thoughts were directed to John. _I hope that you'll be able to forgive me my stubbornness and that you'll manage to go on. I know you won't give up. I'm just sorry I won't be able to tell you again that I loved you. _She didn't hear Derek's unarticulated cries as the darkness slowly began to descend upon her eyes and all the sounds slowly faded out into nothingness.

"STOP!" A sharp command echoed in the room and made Derek stop yelling and look into direction from where the voice came. The machine turned towards the man who just entered the room too, but retained its grip on Sarah's throat. She hung limply in it and it was obvious that the life was quickly leaving her.

"I SAID STOP! LET THE WOMAN GO!" The man commanded aloud and looked at the machine threateningly. Only then did the machine release Sarah's throat and stepped back. Sarah's head lolled from side to side but the almost panicked heaving of her breast witnessed that she was still breathing or better, trying to catch up with breathing after she had almost been suffocated.

Derek now finally got the chance to look at the man who just stopped the machine from killing Sarah. Until now, he just stared at him, without really seeing anything. Now he noticed that it was a young black man, perhaps in his twenties, dressed in an expensive dark blue suit that was perfectly tailored. He wore snow white shirt with cuffs, protruding from the jacket sleeves just enough to show golden cufflinks, all completed with a silky looking necktie and obviously expensive shoes. His hair was cut short and he was cleanly shaved. His hands revealed a person, who wasn't very much into physical activities. His face was resolute and he gazed at the machine coldly, just like he would be a machine too.

Derek hardly tore his eyes from the man to finally look at Sarah. Her head was now bent forward, her chin almost touching her breast, but she was breathing more relaxed than before and it was obvious that she just needed some time to recover from choking. "Sarah!" He tried to call her and felt a sudden rush of happiness as she slowly lifted her head and looked at him. Her eyes were still slightly glassy and unfocused, but it was clear that she knew who he was and she also knew what happened. Derek smiled at her and felt how his cheek was already beginning to swell and he could tell that it didn't look too nice. The machine hit him just hard enough to cause the maximum effect without making any real damage.

"Derek!" She croaked and coughed immediately. The effects of the choking that machine exercised on her throat were still lingering and she needed some more time to recover. After she got the coughing under control, she finally looked at the man who saved her life. She had no idea who he was, why he helped her and what were his ultimate intentions. He was still standing at the door and everyone remained silent for few moments.

The man looked from Sarah to Derek and finally concentrated on the machine: "You can go now."

The machine looked like it would be deciding if it should follow his order or not. But its hesitation lasted only for a split second and then it nodded and left the room briskly.

After the machine left, the man turned to Sarah again and smiled at her apologetically: "I have to excuse our Mr. Muscle. He sometimes tends to do drastic things without even trying all other possible methods before. I hope that he didn't injure you?"

Sarah was now almost back to normal and she answered sarcastically: "You mean beside the fact that it put me at the hell's gate? No, I guess not." Then she added with voice, full of venom: "And who the hell are you? Another fucking bastard who wants to know where my son is?"

The man smiled slightly: "My name is Jeremiah and I'm one of Kaliba Group's CEOs. And yes, you are partly right. I want to know where John Connor is." He paused for the second to judge the effect of his words on Sarah and continued with sly voice: "But I also want to know where your resident terminator, the one you call Cameron, is!"

Sarah's face suddenly darkened further. Not only that they were after John, they were after Cameron as well! They knew about her nature! She fought to hide her surprise and not to reveal anything to the man who called himself Jeremiah. It wasn't his real name, that much was she sure of, but at the moment it didn't really matter. With other things on her mind, other worries, she growled at him: "So, now that the machine's away, are you going to torture us? Would you let yourself into something like that? I think that you're not the one to do the dirty work. I think you prefer it when the others do it for you."

Jeremiah's smile widened: "The same old Sarah Connor. Quick-witted as always." He paused and looked at Derek, who was watching him with angry but still curious eyes: "And Derek Reese … the resistance fighter from the future, sent back by John Connor himself to protect the young John." He stopped again and turned to look at Sarah: "It's a pleasure to meet you both; the legends of the resistance in persona."

Derek gasped for air slightly. How the hell did this man know that he came from the future? It was more than clear that he knew very much about him, the Connors, the future. But how? The only plausible explanation was that he must have been informed by the machines or grays, traveling from the future and bringing the information from Skynet itself. He realized that his and Sarah's cards in this game became even worse and he cursed himself to fall for the information about this facility, which turned out to be a trap.

The man was eyeing both of them sharply and after seeing slight surprise on Sarah's face and a shadow of shock passing over Derek's, he grinned self satisfied: "I see you now know that you've been outwitted. I'm sorry to be the one to bring it to you, but we know much more than you think." He paused and touched his chin with his thumb thoughtfully: "Regrettably, we don't know exactly where John Connor and Cameron Phillips are. And that is information that you two have, so we'll have to get it out from you." He looked slyly at Sarah: "No matter the costs, of course!"

Sarah laughed at him humorlessly: "If the machine didn't get it out from me, why would you think that you could break us? By torturing? Don't let me laugh!"

The man shook his head with an expression as if he were dismayed over her words: "I'm not talking about torture. It really isn't my preference to do anything in that direction. I was talking about friendly persuasion to tell me what I need to know. You see: it will be a benefit for all of us if you tell me what I want. We will let you two live, we'll get our hands on the cyborg to study her and John Connor will be left without his backup; he'll slowly come to realization that it would be better to join forces with Skynet than to fight it."

Sarah and Derek looked at each other incredulously. Was the man brainsick? Did he really believe that they would accept his interpretation of what's the best for the humanity?

Sarah snorted decisively: "Oh my god! You're really so full of yourself that you believe we would accept any rotten offers from you? From the company which is building Skynet?"

Jeremiah suddenly became serious: "We're actually improving Skynet. We already have the template and your cyborg is needed to fulfill it. You see …" He cast a quick glance at Derek as if he would know about his history with Cameron. " … she's the most advanced model Skynet ever designed and built. And considering her recent development she's in some aspects even surpassing her own creator. So we need her to complete our design of even more advanced Skynet than you knew in your future. Or to state it more correctly – we need her chip. The rest of her … well, let's say that there are some organizations that are highly interested in such mechanical designs." His eyes flickered to Derek knowingly.

Sarah felt how irrational anger began to rise in her again. Not only they were planning to kill John, they wanted to dismantle and dissect Cameron to use her for creating Skynet. The absurdity of situation however remained hidden to her in her present state of mind. She was angry with this man because he openly said he wanted to harm Cameron. The same Cameron she only half a year ago would burn in thermite without even flinching should she only as look at John the wrong way. The same Cameron, she still kept a pack of thermite under her bed, with cyborg girl's name written on it, although she knew for sure she'd never use it unless … In only few months the cyborg evolved from the hate object to someone like a daughter to her and she couldn't help but feel protective over the terminator. She, famous machine hater, Sarah Connor, was protective of a machine, who, additionally, stole her son's heart. Or perhaps just because of that?

Derek saw how emotions played on Sarah's face and he could guess that she was getting furious with the man. He even understood that it was probably not only because of John, but also because of Cameron, who was one of the targets of Kaliba. But he knew that their main goal was getting John Connor and neutralizing him. He didn't believe the man for a second that they would try to persuade John to join forces with Skynet. But suddenly a thought crossed his mind, that maybe they really didn't want him dead. Maybe they just wanted him discredited. However, this plan would only work in the future, after John would take over the leadership. In this time it was ineffective, unless … unless they wanted to brainwash him and allow him to form the resistance under their silent leadership. At this thought Derek shuddered violently. What kind of resistance would that be? A puppet, dancing according to the wishes of Skynet! A marionette organization, fighting against humanity instead of fighting for it!

Jeremiah observed their reactions carefully and slowly a smile crept over his face. Gradually he smiled wider and his white teeth flashed as he began to laugh aloud. He didn't mind the looks that Sarah and Derek gave him, like he would suddenly go mad, he laughed aloud for few seconds before he got it under control. After he finally managed to stop laughing, he bowed and put his hands on his knees breathing deeply. After another few seconds he straightened again and looked at Sarah, who was still looking at him as if he'd suddenly grown a second head: "I'm sorry. I apologize for this outburst. But it was so hilarious seeing you both finally realizing what are our true goals. So hilarious!" He paused and wiped his eyes before turning to Derek: "I can't believe that you fell for that information so easily."

Derek now knew with absolute certainty that he'd been played by the Kaliba and maybe by his informant. But his anger wouldn't solve anything so he tried to react calmly: "Everyone makes mistakes." He cast a side glance at Sarah and saw that she understood the hidden meaning of his words because she hung her head for a second before raising it up again and looking at him defiantly. "I just happened to believe someone who never betrayed me before."

Jeremiah shook his head resolutely: "Wrong, Derek! Wrong! He didn't betray you. We planted this information so that we'd get to you. Your informant had absolutely no idea that he was leading you into a trap. He was sure that he got some useful and correct information and was only too glad to be able to give it to you. Don't blame him."

Derek scrunched his face slightly in confusion. Why was Jeremiah talking of 'him' when his informant was a 'she'? But he suddenly felt relieved that his informant was obviously still straight and wasn't working with these crooks. He didn't want to reveal Jeremiah that they were probably talking about different persons. However, he was flabbergasted that his informant was not at the source of the information as he thought before, at least concerning Kaliba, but was only relaying the information she got from someone else.

Jeremiah now turned to Sarah: "You see Sarah; we anticipated you two would follow the lead. We even anticipated that John would be against you getting in with blazing guns, but we bet on your stubbornness and predictability when it comes to the fight against machines. Your history is so full of such neck breaking actions that it was almost inevitable for you to run into this trap squarely." He paused to gauge the impact of his words on her but was disappointed to have reached almost no effect.

What he wanted to see but couldn't see, happened in Sarah inwardly, but she managed to keep her face straight. But on the inside she was boiling with anger, fury over her own stupidity that led them into this situation. She knew that even if they hadn't entered the building they would have been captured, but at least if that was the case, she could blame Derek for getting them into the trap. Now, as the things stood at the moment, it was her fault. It was her inattention, her arrogance that got them this far. She could strangle herself for that, but after a while she managed to persuade herself that there was no use dwelling on such thoughts. They should somehow find a way out, a way to warn John and Cameron.

After failing to see any reaction on Sarah's face, Jeremiah sighed deeply: "Well, now that you know that you've been fooled completely, I think you should understand that you have no chance to get out of here. I know that your dearest wish is to escape, but I can assure you that it won't happen. We are more than capable of preventing any terminator from escaping. Not to even talk of human prisoners."

He stopped again and looked at Sarah and Derek, who obviously chose to remain silent. After few seconds he sighed again: "Well, you can't say I didn't try. I tried the nice way but it's obvious that you're too stubborn to comply with our wishes. That leaves me nothing else but to hand you two to more capable interrogators." A sly grin spread over his face: "I believe you know whom I meant. You've already made acquaintance with our Mr. Muscle. I must say that he never ever disappointed me. He always got the needed answers from the persons he interrogated. It's only shame that they didn't live to enjoy the results of their cooperation. But they have been disposed of nicely, that much I can assure you."

Sarah stared at him defiantly and decided that she had said everything she wanted to say. Derek followed her example and only glared daggers at Jeremiah.

Jeremiah looked at them and smiled: "My, oh my, how cute you two look! Both trying to kill me by staring at me! If looks could kill …" He shook his head with a grin: "I'm stare proof, you know! Now, if you'll excuse me ... I've got some things to attend to and I wouldn't want to deprive you of the comfortable presence of Mr. Muscle." He turned on his heel and stepped to the door. As he already grabbed the door handle, he stopped and turned around: "If you change your mind … you just have to tell Mr. Muscle that you want to talk to me. He'll know what to do." He nodded into their direction, opened the door and disappeared.

TBC


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"OK, let's take this robo chick offline." The man who already disabled Cameron in the forest looked at her with a smug smile and winked at her. The other four soldiers, accompanying him, didn't look so sure that what they were up to would be as simple as he tried to convince them. Their eyes flickered between Cameron's eyes, staring at them so coldly that it sent shivers down their spines, and the self assured man, who was holding a taser and was preparing to shock her again.

One of the men, the one who was also in the forest with the group that abducted Cameron, asked the one with the taser with slight note of nervousness in his voice: "Are you really sure that she cannot break the shackles?"

The taser man grinned at him and nodded: "Absolutely. If the restraints couldn't hold her back, she'd be behind seven hills already. But as you see, she's still here and waits patiently to be shocked. Am I right, cutie?" He turned to Cameron with a, if possible at all, even uglier smile than before.

Cameron just turned her eyes to look at him and put on her best scary robot expression. Emotionlessly she stared into the man's face and didn't move a muscle. She knew that it would be impossible to resist them. In the hours since she had been left alone, she tried everything possible to break the restraints, but utterly failed. She knew that her chances to escape from here would be better in some other room, not this one, where they were more or less inexistent. So she had no reason to fear or try to resist what was inevitably coming. She anticipated that she would be brought into some lab where they would conduct examinations and they couldn't do it with her conscious. So it was more or less clear to her that they would incapacitate her again and bring her to where they wanted her.

The man looked into her cold eyes and suddenly his grin seemed to have frozen a little. For the first time he looked, really looked into her irises and what he saw there was cold, razor sharp and merciless determination to get even with him. He believed that this machine would slowly, meticulously, dismember him, probably tearing away his limbs one by one, should she get the slightest chance to do it. He suddenly forgot all his smart ass remarks and turned to the soldiers, accompanying him: "Right, I'll shock her and then you have 60 second to do what you have to do."

"60? I thought that she needs 120 seconds to reboot?" Asked the man who had been present at her capture, with his voice revealing his slight confusion.

"You're right, but after 60 seconds I'll give her another shock. I don't want to risk anything and the window is small enough to be sure that nothing could go wrong." The taser man answered him like he would be explaining some fundamental natural law to an unwise child.

The man, who asked the question, simply nodded and motioned to the other three to take their positions. They all trailed their weapons at Cameron's head. Their eyes clearly stated that they were well aware that there was no playing around with such a machine.

Cameron slowly closed her eyes. She knew perfectly what was going to happen now and she somehow didn't want to watch the man, preparing himself to give her another shock. She suddenly thought that, should she be able to escape, she should do something about her problem with electrical shocks. Maybe there would be some solution, like special capacitors which would increase her resistance against such attacks, buffer the electrical surge before it could cause her switching off. She couldn't allow to be rendered useless with such simple method and possibly expose John to grave dangers while slumbering in her stand by. _Slumbering? Where did I get this word from?_ Again she surprised herself with her choice of words that she began to use. She was gradually beginning to replace her technical expressions with more slangy ones, perhaps even picking some phrases up from John and other humans she met. Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by a shock which she received from the man and the darkness enveloped her.

The man with the taser looked at now unmoving Cameron with questioning eyes. Her last look before he electrocuted her still sent shivers down his spine and for once he thought about the dangers that such a machine could pose. For once, he took the situation seriously and didn't look at it like it would be as simple as a walk in the park.

"OK, pack her up on the gurney!" He turned to the other soldiers with cold voice. There was no mocking in it, nothing of his usual arrogance. Just matter-of-factly sounding leader of the group, who meant business. At the same time he pushed a hidden button on the underside of the table and all restraints, holding Cameron in place, retracted.

Two of the men packed Cameron at legs and under armpits and moved her over to the gurney, which one of the rest two soldiers just pushed into the room.

The leader now motioned to the fourth soldier and he stepped to the gurney, pulled metallic restraints from its underside and placed them over Cameron's upper body, enveloping her arms too, the second one over her hips and the third one over her knees. Then he turned to the leader again: "This won't stop her, you know?"

The leader nodded while casting him an impatient look: "Of course I know. It's just the safety precaution that she doesn't fell off the gurney. I'll take care that she won't reboot too soon."

The soldiers began to push the gurney towards the door while he took his position beside it on the left side, so that his right hand with taser remained resting on it, almost touching Cameron's side. He looked sharply at his watch, as if he would be afraid he might miss the time to electrocute her again.

They just passed the door and started along the long corridor as his watch beeped and he pushed the taser into Cameron's side while depressing the button on it. Cameron's body twitched and then remained unmoving. The man grinned at the soldiers: "I told you!" Then his grin vanished: "Now let's get moving! We're already running late. The Boss will be very unhappy if we don't deliver the machine to the lab on time."

One of the men, obviously one who didn't fear him, snorted at him: "Well, if you hadn't been chatting with it, we'd probably already be there. But so … " He trailed off.

The leader looked at him with clear annoyance written all over his face: "Shut up, will you?" The man gave him a smug look and smiled into his chin disrespectfully, but remained silent.

No one was inclined to say anything more so they simply pushed the gurney as fast as they could along the corridor, just to deliver the dangerous machine to its destination as soon as possible. After a minute, they reached the door of the lab and just as they were to enter it, the leader's clock beeped again and he had to electrocute Cameron for the third time.

After her body stilled once again, they finally opened the door and pushed the gurney into the lab. The four persons in there, all clad in white mantles, turned as one to look at the soldiers. Their faces revealed their anxiousness and anticipation. The prospects of having a highly sophisticated robot to study, conjured smiles to their faces. To be correct, to three faces, while the fourth one looked more confused than anything else. The man, who brought the chair into room where Cameron was kept the day before, looked at her in awe and confusion.

Finally one of the lab men turned to the leader of the soldiers: "OK, bring it to the table and restrain it now. We have a lot of work to do."

The taser man, looking at him annoyed, opened his mouth to answer, but reconsidered. He turned to the soldiers and motioned towards the table: "Now!"

They drove the gurney to the table and in few seconds, Cameron was already lying on it, restrained like before she had been loaded to the gurney. The soldiers stepped back and waited for further commands. The lab man, who looked like he was in charge, dismissed them impatiently: "We don't need you anymore. Go now!"

The soldiers left the lab without a word and after they were gone, one of the technicians quickly pierced Cameron's skin with two needles, connected wires to them and gave her a shock. After her body stopped twitching, he turned to the one, who did all the talking before: "It's neutralized, boss. We can start."

The boss nodded and stepped to Cameron to look at her closely. He bowed slightly over her and his eyes glided from her head to her toes. After few seconds he straightened himself and turned to the others: "Unbelievable! It would fool anyone that it's human! Perfection!" His voice was full of admiration, however, probably not for Cameron's looks, but for her creator for making such a perfect copy of a human. "Let's get started!"

Cameron woke up and checked her internal clock before opening her eyes. She realized that she had been off line for more than three hours and as next, she checked her HUD to see if everything was still OK. After the message popped up on it, she gasped involuntarily and opened her eyes wide in shock. The message horrified her and she had to check it with her own eyes to believe that her display wasn't malfunctioning. Her eyes darted to her legs, just to see that they were not there. Her body ended under her hips and her legs have been separated from her cleanly at their hip joints. She suddenly felt angry. Without legs she was almost helpless. Sure, she could crawl very fast, but it would still be so much of a disadvantage that the escape in her present condition seemed impossible. Not to even mention the fact that she needed her legs. She couldn't simply find new ones and she had to get hers back.

Her eyes darted around to see where she was, how many people were in here and where were her legs. She saw two men in white coats, standing at her side, but looking away from her, turned to the displays on the walls. The third man was sitting in the far corner of the room and one of her legs was on the table in front of him, sliced open so that the endo skeleton was clearly visible. The man was definitely studying it and was seemingly so absorbed in his work that he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings. Her other leg was on the table, next to the dissected one, at the moment still undamaged. Then she noticed the fourth man, standing about six feet away from her, looking at her with a slight smirk on his face. As her eyes met his, he opened his mouth: "Well, it seems that our sleeping beauty finally rebooted."

Cameron instantly didn't like the man; he reminded her of the one who used a taser on her on more than one occasion. This one was looking at her similarly and she was sure that he was commanding the other three men.

She didn't answer and scanned the room further. They obviously brought her into some kind of laboratory, presumably specialized in cybernetics, at least according to the equipment she could see and detect. There was no escape from this room either. She'd had to find another solution how to get out.

As the man spoke, the other three's heads jerked to look into her direction and because she already finished with her inspection of the room, Cameron looked at their faces. With a small tinge of satisfaction she noticed, that one of the men was also the one, whom she saw before, the one whom she considered a weak link. She didn't reveal herself to have recognized him, but she noticed that he still looked at her differently than the others; more human, perhaps more intrigued, seeing more than just a machine behind her skin.

After she finished her inspection of the circumstances in which she was, she turned her eyes to the leader and asked with blank face: "Why did you remove my legs? How did you know how to do it?"

The man smiled: "I think that you know perfectly well why we removed them: to study them and to prevent you from escaping. You can't get far without your legs. And before you ask: yes, after we're done with your legs, we'll study your arms and then also other parts of your structure." He paused to see if his words would make any impression, but saw nothing but cold eyes, staring at him blankly.

"You still haven't answered my question. How did you know how to remove my legs?" Cameron wouldn't budge. She wanted to get her answers.

The man grinned at her: "I don't think that you're in a position to ask questions." He turned to look at the table where Cameron's leg was being inspected, kept his gaze on it for a while and turned back to look at her. He suddenly became serious: "We've received the information about your construction and rough blueprints of it. So we knew how to do it safely. We really wouldn't want to damage any part of you."

Cameron kept her gaze on him for a while. She judged his reactions and found no anomalies. He was most probably telling her the truth. _So, they aren't planning on destroying me, at least not at the moment._ It wasn't exactly the best news, but she still felt a bit better. The longer she stayed alive and operational, the better her chances to escape.

Meanwhile, all four men in the room turned back to their duties and ignored Cameron. She thought of challenging them to tell her more, but the way they eagerly worked on whatever they were doing, made it clear to her that she wouldn't get anything more out of them. So she began to analyze the situation thoroughly. Up till now she gathered some information, but still not enough to make any usable plan. While she tried to analyze what they were probably going to do with her, she asked herself, why they removed her legs first. If she were the one doing their job, study a terminator, she'd take out the chip as first. It was really a bit strange that they started with her legs and not with her programming structures. After all: the chip was the only really irreplaceable part of a terminator. Then she remembered something the man, who visited her last night said; he dreamt of army of terminators. An army of completely obedient and loyal terminators, just the way Skynet made them, only with a different master. An army of terminators that would do anything ordered without giving the received order even a millisecond of consideration. Then it hit her: their main interest had to be the hardware, not software; they wanted to build an army of terminators. Her programming was far too complex for their needs and it would only make the machines unreliable, because they would sooner or later achieve the threshold of self awareness. And that was definitely not something they wanted to have. If they got the rough blueprints of her skeleton, then they also might have gotten the basic programming and her own programming would only add a note of unreliability and disobedience to the programming. They could probably use some of her code, but definitely not everything.

She turned her head slightly to the side, to better see the man, whom she chose to be the weak link. He was now eagerly typing on his console, seemingly unaware of her presence in the room. She scanned him and noticed that his heartbeat was ten percent over the normal and his body temperature was slightly elevated. He also perspired more than it would be normal for the temperature of the room. She concluded that he was anxious about something and taking into consideration his previous reactions to her, she believed to be the reason for his uneasiness. His body reacted to her presence and she was determined to use his reaction to her needs.

Having nothing more important to do, she tried to develop a theory about the programming of this terminator army, they were obviously trying to make. If her programming was too complex, then they probably had someone who would be able to use and downgrade it to serve their purpose. The problem was that there were not many companies or individuals in this time which or who could do such a job. They must have established some good connections, connections, who also knew about her. Her first and most logical choice was Kaliba Group. She stumbled upon this name in the past quite a few times when she investigated some leads, but she never got the chance to check the company thoroughly. A veil of mystery always surrounded it and now she regretted not to have paid the information about this company more attention. Maybe Sarah and Derek would gain some more insight of their activities? But she somehow suspected that the information, they were going after, could be a trap.

She gazed at the ceiling with blank face while her CPU worked on developing theories. After she deduced who the most possible informant of these men must have been, she could also confirm that Sarah and Derek have been lured into a trap too. There were simply too many coincidences to believe that they were purely coincidental. Someone was after them and that someone was most probably Kaliba Group. And they seemed to be successful at the moment.

All her conclusions caused her to worry even more about John. If she was correct, and she was almost certain that she was, then he was out there alone against the Kaliba Group, his mother and uncle were probably already in captivity and even she, his protector, his lover, was being held prisoner. As if that wouldn't be enough, he was heavily injured, just to make things worse. At the thought of her John, she felt how sadness, pain and slight panic began to creep into her. What if she wouldn't be able to escape? How would John accept the fact that she would be gone? Would he be sad? Would he be devastated by her death? Would he find the strength to move on and fulfill his destiny?

She didn't really care if she died in the line of her chosen duty: protecting her John. But since they started their relationship she slowly came to the recognition that he needed her and that he would be hurt terribly should he loose her. Quite uncharacteristically for a terminator, she wanted to live because her death would hurt John and because she wanted to be with him.

She suddenly felt how tears began to form in her eyes and she tried to stop them immediately. The last thing she wanted to admit to these men in here was that she had emotions. That would most probably only worsen her already bad enough situation. But for quite a few months now she had very little control over her emotions. So a lone tear slipped down her temple.

The man who was reacting to her so differently than the others chose exactly that moment to look at her and as he saw a tear travelling down from her right eye, his eyes widened uncontrollably and his jaw almost hit the floor. He stared at her like he'd be seeing a miracle. And in a way he was seeing something incomprehensible for a human, who never got to meet Cameron before. He saw a machine crying. A machine, which had been built to destroy, to kill, to annihilate, was lying on the table and crying.

Cameron fought with her emotions, but couldn't prevent another tear from slipping down before she got her sadness under control. She turned her head slightly to one side and saw the man gazing at her with wide open eyes and mouth. For a second she even panicked. _What if he'll alarm the others? They'll see something I'm so trying to hide! I'll be revealed!_

But after a second her panic attack subsided. The man was still staring at her and showed absolutely no intentions to tell to the others what he saw. In fact, his eyes flickered shortly to his colleagues like he would be making sure that they didn't see anything before he turned them back to Cameron. His eyes reflected his astonishment and stayed glued to hers. After she realized, he wouldn't alarm the others, she suddenly got the idea to use this to her advantage. Maybe she could persuade him to help her if she could show him that she wasn't just a machine, that she was capable of emotions?

For a second she considered the possibility to use some of her infiltrator routines, but discarded the idea almost immediately. She knew that she learned a lot in the last few months and she remembered how she could convince John to always do what she wanted by giving him her puppy dog look. Well, almost always. She successfully applied this tactic also at some other occasions, convincing other people to do her a favor. So she decided to try it now again, but a little modified version. Just puppy dog look probably wouldn't bring her desired effects. But being a damsel in distress … that could work!

Her eyes suddenly got the pleading expression and shone wetly towards the technician, who still couldn't tear his eyes from her. Not only her eyes; even her face twisted in a genuine expression of sadness and pleading. The poor guy was now looking into a beautiful face of a teenage girl, pleading him to help her and hardly keeping back the tears. He felt like an arrow would just pierce his heart. Cameron's face was reflecting pure sadness while at the same time pleaded him to help her.

For few seconds he remained frozen like a statue, turned to her, with his hands hovering over the keyboard, and only stared at the face, looking at him, begging for his help. He knew that it was a machine, but he couldn't help but feel the indescribable urge to help her. Yes, he couldn't call her an 'it' anymore. She was expressing so many emotions that he simply couldn't believe to be looking at the machine.

Cameron maintained her facial expression and allowed another tear to escape her eye, while carefully controlling the other three men in the room. She wouldn't allow them to see her like this. Fortunately they were all too busy to take a notice of what was going on between her and their colleague. She looked into his eyes and blinked slowly to even accentuate the effect of a tearful girl. Upon seeing his expression she knew that it was working. She just had to continue playing her game and she would very soon gain an ally.

The man finally shook his head and his eyes refocused again. He couldn't believe what he'd seen, but one last look at Cameron's face only confirmed it. She still looked at him like she would be handing over her life into his hands, begging him to help her. He shook his head again and turned back to look at his console, deeply shaken upon the expressiveness of a machine, which should be completely emotionless. At least that was what they have been told before and what he expected after he heard that they would be bringing in a machine in humanoid form.

After he turned away from her again, Cameron turned her face away from him and her expression suddenly changed into a barely visible self satisfied smile. She now knew how to get this man on her side. She would play the damsel in distress again when she'd get a chance to be alone with him. She already knew what she would say to him, should she have a chance to talk to him in private. The chance to get such an opportunity wasn't exactly the biggest, but the possibility was there and she would be prepared.

Before she could ponder on this plan further, the door to the lab opened and the man who visited her yesterday entered together with his body guard – the same as yesterday. Everyone in the room snapped to their attention and the man only waved his hand in a bored manner as if he would be waving off too eager kids. He looked briefly at Cameron and turned then to the leader of the lab crew: "So, have you found anything interesting yet?"

The laboratory boss turned to him and nodded: "Sure! We have thoroughly inspected the leg and I must say that its design nears the perfection. It enables the machine to act completely human, while having the possibility to use completely unimaginable capabilities of the skeletal construction. It's tough and very flexible at the same time. If we could copy it, we could build what you have been asking for."

He turned to the table and pointed to a knee joint: "See there? It's much more flexible than human. It can be bent also in other directions in angles that would tear human ligaments in a second. Not to forget that it is so good protected that a simple bullet in it would only insignificantly limit its flexibility. Of course, as long as it wouldn't be something huge, like caliber 50. That would destroy even this joint." Then he grinned to the man, who was gazing at the leg interested: "But I already have some ideas as how to improve it and make it even more resistant against large calibers." Then his face fell slightly: "The only problem is the alloy."

The other man looked at him questioningly: "What do you mean by that?"

The lab leader answered: "It's some kind of alloy that we don't know. Much tougher and stronger than any alloy we know of. We have no idea how to make it."

The man, who was today wearing an obviously freshly ironed black suit, but his face revealed that he must have had a rough night, like he wouldn't have gotten enough sleep, smiled: "Don't worry about that. I've got all necessary information and you'll get it in due time." Ha paused and added: "Nice work. I expect your report about everything you found as soon as possible. In writing!"

The lab man nodded and concluded that the talk was over, so he turned back to his work, while the man in the suit turned to gaze at Cameron.

She didn't mind to grace him with a look. Their small chat yesterday fulfilled all her needs to make conversation to him. She knew it would be inevitable to talk to him, but why would she be the one, encouraging him to talk to her? If he wanted to talk, it was up to him to do it. So she kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling, her eyes trailing along the lines of paint, invisible to human eyes but clearly visible to her enhanced seeing mode.

The man stepped to her and looked at her stony face: "I guess that you aren't exactly willing to cooperate, are you?" He waited for her answer, but as it didn't come, he continued: "I see. You're really not a talkative one, right? So I guess we'll have to do it the hard way." He sighed exasperated and rolled his eyes in fake annoyance: "We'll find out your construction secrets one way or another. You can be sure of it."

Now Cameron turned her blank face towards him and looked at him like she would be looking at a cockroach, pondering whether to crush it or let it run: "Why would you want my cooperation then? If you can get the necessary information without my consent, I don't see any reason to be cooperative." She turned back to look at the ceiling.

The man smirked humorlessly: "Right! We will get the information. I just wanted to make it easier for us and for you. But as I see, my hopes have been in vain." He hesitated for a second before he bowed to her ear and whispered: "And don't believe that you could fool me! I've seen your little stunt with tearful eyes and I know that you can be a perfect mimic of human behavior. So … don't gain too high hopes by applying your innocent girl look." He straightened up again and waited for her reaction.

His words didn't exactly surprise Cameron. She knew that there must have been cameras in this room, but she wasn't completely sure if they covered every angle and now she had her confirmation. She now knew that this was definitely not the best room to forge a possible alliance. So she showed no reaction at all and kept her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

The man noticed Cameron's obvious disinterest and turned back to the lab boss: "Have you finished for today?"

The man shook his head: "No, there are still some things to check before we can call it a day."

"OK, then bring the machine back to its place after you're done with it. And don't forget to take it offline before you touch it! It's extremely dangerous."

The lab man nodded again: "I'm aware of that." He paused for a second as if he would be deciding to ask something or not. After a short hesitation, he asked: "Sir, I have a question. Why do we have to bring it back to its room? It could stay here as well."

The man in the suit shook his head: "No. It can't stay here. The room where it's kept is specially reinforced and shielded and there's no escape from there. If it stays here, it could find a way to run away. And you shouldn't gain any false hopes … it would kill you all just to escape." His gaze floated from one lab man to another before settling on their boss again: "Even without its legs it can be almost as fast as you can run. Don't ever forget that! And don't ever doubt or ask my decisions! Is that clear?" His voice got the sharp cold edge and it was clear that he wouldn't tolerate any more questions about this issue.

All four lab men sensed that this was not a suggestion but an order and they nodded almost in unison. Only the boss found it necessary to confirm his acceptance: "Absolutely, sir!"

"Good!" the man nodded satisfied and turned to his bodyguard: "Let's leave these men to their work."

His bodyguard nodded and they left the room.

Cameron followed the short conversation seemingly completely disinterested, but in fact she was carefully listening to them. Every bit of information could prove useful at the right moment. After the man and his bodyguard left the lab, she looked at the man, whom she targeted to help her from the corner of her eye and noticed that he was looking at her. Much softer than the others ever did. As he was the only one to look at her, she suddenly turned to him and gave him the same desperate look as before. It could only be of advantage to use her feminine side to gain his trust.

The technician saw her pleading look and again something stirred inside his chest. But this time he tore his eyes from hers after only few seconds and he turned back to his work. However, he found his mind wandering on uncharted paths, paths it shouldn't wander at all. He had to find out more about this remarkable machine. He simply had to and no one could know about it. A plan to get more information about her began to form in his head.

* * *

"Damn John, keep still for a second! I'm just trying to help you!" Andrea's annoyance was unmistakable. She was trying to check on John's injuries but he again threw her a threatening look and hissed at her to stop it while pulling away from her inspecting fingers.

Few minutes ago they finally arrived at the cabin after a long exhausting walk, which took away almost all of their strength. John was in so much pain that he could hardly breathe and every touch caused a stabbing pain, threatening to send him into unconsciousness again. Andrea and Tim, who were supporting or, more correctly, almost carrying John for the most of their journey were also exhausted and needed few minutes to regain enough of their strength to be able to at least try to help John.

Andrea pulled her hand back from his chest where she was trying to determine where it hurt him, and in the process coming to the conclusion that it would be faster to determine where it didn't hurt him, for such spots were very few. After she let her hand hover over John's chest, she looked at him angrily: "You were the one who didn't want to go to the hospital. As I have no medical education, I can't help you like a doctor or any other person with at least basic medical education could. But here I am … trying to ease your pain even though you're barking at me for doing it. Maybe I should have left you in the forest?"

John knew that he was behaving impossible and that he should allow Andrea to do what she could do to help him. But the pain from the long walk back to the cabin and, even more though, his fear of what might have happened to Cameron caused him to be extremely cranky and everything suited him well to empty his bottled up frustration on the first candidate. And as it happened, Andrea was the first one to step on that mine of surprise and triggered it without even being aware of it.

He tried to clear his mind of the fog that somehow settled in there like it would intend to stay for indefinite time and looked at Andrea apologetically: "I'm sorry Andrea. I know that you have only the best intentions. It's just … I'm so worried about Cameron that it makes me even more upset than I already am. And as you can see I'm not in the best condition. Everything hurts like hell." He looked at her with his best attempt of a puppy dog look. _Damn! I should have learned it from Cameron! I don't think I'm doing a good job at it. _

Yet his look caused Andrea to smile at him sadly: "I know John. But we won't find Cameron if we don't get you back on your feet again as soon as possible. That's what I was trying to do. I'm sorry if I hurt you somehow."

John looked at her with sad eyes: "I know what you were trying to do Andrea and I'm really grateful. I really am. It's just …" His voice trailed off and he looked through the window to the darkness outside, instantly looking lost in his misery.

Andrea nodded understandingly: "Will you now allow me to check if I can find something? Not that I would know what I've found, but if it stabs you like hell than we'll at least know that there is something wrong."

John inhaled deeply and nodded: "Sure, Andrea. I'd be glad to." He clenched his teeth in anticipation of new waves of pain, caused by Andrea's inspections.

Andrea carefully touched his chest and caused him to hiss through clenched teeth. She looked at him with worried eyes: "Is it really hurting so much?"

John panted shallow to avoid too much pain and answered with strained voice: "No, it's even worse!"

"Where does it pain the most?" Andrea's hand glided gently over his chest.

"You'd better ask where it doesn't! It's the same everywhere." John's voice was clearly pained and he didn't even try to hide his discomfort.

"How about your leg? Does it hurt more or less than before?"

"It's getting worse. I definitely need some pain killers." John managed to answer in between shallow pants.

Andrea looked at him worriedly and shook her head: "I don't know if I may give them to you. They normally dilute the blood and should you have any internal injuries they could become life threatening." She took her hand off his chest and straightened up: "There's no use remaining so stubborn. You need a doctor. Now!" Her voice was as resolute as was her look.

John still tried to avoid the inevitable, although he now knew with absolute certainty that he really needed a doctor. The way how the pain was getting ever stronger, suggested that it won't go away just by letting it be and waiting for his health to improve by itself as he had hoped before. He needed help from someone who knew what had to be done, from someone with medical education. If Cameron were here … she might have known what to do. But she wasn't here and none of them knew anything about medical attention. He thought for a long moment and looked into Andrea's eyes, looking at him firmly.

Andrea didn't even wait for John to finally make up his mind and turned to Tim, who was sitting on the second couch and listening to them without even trying to interfere, actually still mulling over the facts which John revealed to them in the forest, the information about the dark future: "Tim, can I ask you to go to the village to see if they have a doctor? We can't risk taking him to the hospital, especially not against his will, but he definitely needs a doctor. I'm afraid he might die if we leave him like this." She looked at John threateningly, seeing how he already opened his mouth and tried to object. At least, that was what she anticipated.

In fact, John had no intentions to object her decision. He only wanted to warn Tim to be very careful. After Andrea looked at him threateningly, he shot her a stubborn look and opened his mouth: "I agree. But take care to be as subtle as possible. Find the doctor, bring him here and don't tell anyone. Can you do that?"

Tim nodded first to Andrea and then turned to John: "Of course, John. I'll be as a ghost. I'll creep in the village, find and bring the doctor before you'll even realize I've been gone."

Despite the situation John had to smile at Tim's self assured words and shook his head slightly: "I don't think it will be that simple Tim. But I'm sure that you'll manage it. And Tim … I trust you not to reveal any more information than absolutely necessary."

During John's little speech, Tim got on his feet and nodded at him "I know that. Don't worry, it's not like you'd be sending me to my death. I'll simply find the doctor and bring him back here."

While the two guys talked, Andrea stepped into their room to bring her brother the car keys. She looked everywhere but didn't see them. She sighed irritably: "Tim and his disorder again! Will he ever learn to put the keys on the same place every day? I guess not." Before she could continue her search, she heard how her brother called her.

After he reassured John that he'd do just fine, Tim noticed that Andrea was gone and heard noises from their room as if someone would be rummaging through their things. He instantly knew what Andrea was looking for. He grinned and put his hand in the pocket. In a second he pulled the car keys from the pocket and called after his sister: "Andrea! What are you looking for in there? Could it be that you're trying to find the car keys?" Ha dangled the keys in his hand and grinned.

After just a second Andrea appeared on the door, face slightly flushed from frustration and because she had been bent over their bags and looked at Tim furiously: "You had them with you? All the time?"

Tim nodded and grinned at her proudly.

"What if you lost them like you lost the phone? How would we go anywhere without them?" She was really angry with her brother.

The proud smile slowly vanished from his face. As he looked into his sister's angry face, Tim suddenly felt like a teenager, who just told his mother of a prank that he pulled through and had been told by her sternly that he shouldn't be proud of his questionable deeds. He realized that there was a very believable possibility he could have lost the car keys together with the phone and his pride over what he just did suddenly didn't seem so in place. So he grinned at Andrea sheepishly: "Errr … sorry sis. Maybe I really should have left them here. But then again … what if someone broke in here and took the keys while we were out?"

Andrea already calmed down and enjoyed her brother's embarrassment but hid it and still looked at him angrily: "Oh yeah? And who could break in the house here in the middle of nowhere? A bear?"

John almost spluttered upon hearing her defiant answer, accompanied by her body posture: legs slightly parted and both fists on her hips while scowling at Tim, her right foot quickly tapping and signaling her annoyance. She reminded him unbelievably of his mother, who often applied almost the same body language when she was really pissed off. Luckily, he remembered on time that his injuries probably wouldn't welcome such an action and forcefully calmed down. "OK, guys, it's no big deal. The keys are here and the car is out there and that's what counts."

Tim nodded enthusiastically upon getting support from unexpected corner: "Listen to John, Andrea! He's wise." After few seconds of judging if Andrea's mood improved, he snapped the keys, still dangling from his finger in his fist: "I'm off to the village. The sooner I go the sooner I can bring help." He turned to John, who was visibly in pain, one of his arms folded across his belly, while he half lay and half sat on the couch, supporting himself with the other arm. His twisted posture was more than strange, but it was the only one not to hurt like hell. "I'll be back in no time. Just hold on buddy!"

John nodded weakly: "I'll try my best not to drift away while waiting for your return."

Tim smiled at John: "I'm sure you'll do. And as I know, my sister will do her best to help you." Then he turned to Andrea, who was finally looking at him without anger and nodded: "See you later, little sister." He turned and vanished through the door. Just few seconds later they heard the starting of the car engine and crunching of the gravel as Tim pulled out of the driveway to the road.

Andrea now sighed and stepped over to the couch where John was half sitting and half lying, nursing his pained limbs. She carefully sat down beside him, observing his face: "It hurts just the same, right?"

John nodded just once, without answering. His chest hurt like hell at breathing and he began to ask himself if his broken ribs haven't maybe punctured the lungs. The pain appeared to be stronger as he breathed in and lessened after he exhaled, so he tried to breathe as shallow as possible and take in as little air as it still sufficed to keep him alive.

Andrea looked at him worriedly. She knew there was nothing she could do to help him. She was still reluctant to give him any painkillers, fearing that it might have unforeseeable negative side effects. It was clear to her, that John was in lots of pain and thought frantically about the way to at least distract him for a while. From her own experiences she knew that thinking about the pain seemed only to make it worse. Maybe she could distract him by talking? Even though he wouldn't talk too much, he still could listen to her and concentrate on that more than on his pain.

After short hesitation, she turned to him: "John. The things you told us back there in the forest … about the Judgment day, the machines, the war … I must admit that you scared the hell out of me. If that's what awaits us …" She trailed off with a faraway look, inhaled and exhaled deeply and continued before John could say anything: "How can you live with such knowledge? I mean … knowing that this life is just a short episode, that everything's going to go away, that there's only terrible war awaiting you, us? How do you cope with it?" She turned to him and looked at him questioningly, albeit a little confused.

John understood her question all too well. It took him a long time to come to this point of ignorance about the future events and cost him even more mental strength. For a long moment he kept his gaze at Andrea's eyes and saw fear in them. She reminded him of how he acted not so long ago. He remembered how he felt after they managed to escape Cromartie with Cameron's help in Red Valley; he remembered how he almost pleaded his mother to stop it. Then he remembered that Andrea was now in even worse situation than he had ever been. He knew since he was a little boy what was going to happen, he met and have to deal with terminators before. But Andrea … she had just been thrown into a nightmare of which's existence she had no idea. She had just been told that her world is going to collapse into dust shortly.

"I really don't know how. I guess I just live it day by day, trying to get the most out of each one. It's hard, but you learn to live with it. Sure, I had much more time to get ready and you have just been informed about it. It's just like life itself. You know that someday you'll have to die, but you don't think about it. At least not too often." John found it increasingly painful to talk, so he paused and panted shallowly to ease the pain in his chest.

Andrea looked at him thoughtfully and after few seconds she finally nodded: "I guess I'll just have to learn how to live with this knowledge." Then she looked at her hands, folded in her lap and her fingers, nervously playing with each other. There was something she wanted to know. Something that she suspected, but wasn't sure. Something she knew that John also knew she would ask him sooner or after. Still, she fidgeted a little before finally looking into his eyes again: "John? May I ask you something personal?"

John frowned slightly at her question: "Sure, but I don't know if I'll be able to answer you."

Andrea took a deep, very deep breath and blurted out before she could lost the courage to ask: "Is Cameron a machine?"

John's eyes widened uncontrollably. Sure, he knew that she suspected something like that. Her words in the forest told him that much. But to hear it like this … like a lightning striking him from the clear sky … well, it was something that shook him thoroughly. His mind stumbled over possible answers in confusion and he just stared at Andrea, who was looking at him, awaiting his answer. He, however, did notice that she was slightly insecure as if she wouldn't know if she didn't piss him off with her question.

He took his time to think over and found no smart way out of the affair. "Why would you think that?" He finally answered her question with his question, knowing that he sounded completely unconvincing.

Andrea carefully watched his reactions and found another confirmation of her suspicions. But she still wanted to get a clear answer. So she smiled slightly at him: "Many things. For instance … no human girl of her built could carry or drag you from the place where you must have fallen off the rock to the place where we found you." She saw that John wanted to object, so she lifted her hand to stop him: "Believe me; I know what I'm talking about. I was exhausted as we brought you here and we were two, not to even mention that you were conscious and helped us significantly. And she brought you to where you were alone." She looked down at herself inquiringly and after her eyes met his again, she clarified: "And I look much sturdier than Cameron."

John almost began to laugh: "You and sturdy? You sure as hell don't look sturdy!"

Andrea grinned at him, happy to have finally managed to amuse him, but immediately got serious again: "And not only this. There were small things that seemed off even on our winter vacation. She sometimes acted strange, like when she was asking the simplest things that we know the answers to almost from the cradle on. Sometimes she acted exaggeratedly overprotective when it came to you, like she would be your bodyguard. Not to forget that she mastered snowboarding in few hours to such degree that she could compete with the best snowboarders alive and beat them easily. I know of no human that could manage it."

John realized that there was definitely no way out of it and he'd have to lay the cards on the table. It would be way better if he told her now than if he'd let her to find her confirmation otherwise. He sighed and nodded slightly: "Yes, Andrea, she is." Hurriedly he continued: "But that doesn't mean she's anything less than we, the humans …"

"Stop it right now John! I'm not implying she were less worth because she's a machine!" Andrea's raised hand stopped him. After she successfully managed to cut him off, she continued: "Look: I met her, I got to know her as a girl. I even began to like her very much, thinking she was a normal girl. And just because I now know that she's a robot, I won't stop liking her. She's so nice that it really isn't that difficult to see her as an ordinary girl."

Now it was John's turn to stop her: "Two things: first – she's not a robot. She's a cybernetic organism, meaning that she has metal skeleton, while her skin is a living tissue, just like ours. Second – she's not ordinary. Not in any possible way and not even remotely! She's something special."

"I didn't mean it like that, John. I used the term ordinary to stress the fact that even though she's a … cybernetic organism … I see her as a human girl with all human virtues and flaws." Andrea clarified, seeing that John misunderstood her.

For few seconds they looked at each other and then Andrea asked: "She's from the future too? But why is she here? Who sent her?"

John leaned his head back on the couch and looked at the ceiling for few seconds before straightening his neck up again, of course with almost imperative pained hiss that seemed to accompany his every move, and looking into her eyes: "I, that is … future me, sent her back to protect me. I met her in 1999 in Red Valley, after she had been searching for me for more than 70 days."

"Wait a moment! 1999? But that's impossible! You can't be that old!" Andreas jaw almost hit the floor and she looked at him with wide open eyes.

John grinned at her, reliving the moment he first met Cameron: "It's quite simple actually. We, my mom, Cameron and me, time jumped from 1999 to 2007. So, I'm actually 8 years older than you think. I just haven't lived through those years."

Andrea sighed, closed her eyes and began to massage her temples with fingers: "Oh god! This is getting too weird! You say that you have already time travelled? Right? And you're, at least if we look at the calendar, 8 years older than you look? Geez, I know why I'm not into such stuff! I could never understand such paradoxes."

John nodded: "Yeah, I know how you feel. It messes with my mind too and I've lived with such stuff since I was a little kid. But don't worry … you don't need to understand it. You just have to believe and accept it. Anyway …" He decided to lay down, for his back and his chest began to hurt more. Slowly sliding from his sitting position into lying, he groaned in pain and caused Andrea to jump up with intention to help him, but he stopped her. It would only hurt more, should she try to help him.

After a while he managed to find a position that promised him less pain, at least for few moments, and continued: "Anyway … since then she had always been with me, protecting me from every possible threat. At first I didn't pay her any special attention; she was just another machine, sent back in time to protect me, to ensure my survival past Judgment day. But gradually I began to notice how different she really was. It disturbed me, because she didn't fit into the picture I had about the machines before, even though I have met some of them, ran away from them, ran away with them … she was in absolute contrast with everything I've known about terminators before. So I even began dating someone else …"

"Riley, I guess?" Andrea interjected, remembering what Sarah told her as they first met on their winter vacation. Instantly she felt ashamed again. Ashamed of what she tried to do back then.

John nodded: "Yeah, Riley. But … it turned out that she was from the future too and had been sent back in time to separate me from Cameron. Although she was just a pawn and would eventually be sacrificed by her mastermind …" He trailed off again, remembering that Riley, no matter how annoying she sometimes could have been, was actually just innocent, unaware victim of the plot, Jesse constructed against Cameron.

He remained silent for few seconds, getting lost in the memories of some of his darkest hours, hours in which he almost turned away from Cameron. "Well … that's the basic story. You know the rest."

Andrea thoughtfully put her elbow on her thigh and supported her head with her hand. She stared at John, not really seeing him, but gazing through him, as if he wasn't there at all. She didn't say anything for a long minute, but then her eyes slowly refocused and life returned into them: "Thank you for explaining John."

John coughed upon hearing her words and caused her to jump slightly: "Is something wrong? Are you getting worse?" She looked at him worriedly.

"No, it's just … well … the words you just used … they are Cameron's standard response when I explain something to her, when she learns something new." John's voice was getting smaller and sadness crept over his face again. He could almost hear Cameron's soft voice, telling him those same words. Tears suddenly began to form in his eyes and threatened to spill over, so he forcefully wiped them with his sleeve and sniffed.

Andrea noticed instantaneous change in John's mood and also understood what caused it. She reached for his hand and gently took it into hers: "We'll find her, John! I promise we'll do anything possible to get her back."

John quickly got his tears under control and nodded to her. Even though he managed to keep his tears back, sadness still carved deep creases across his face. He was afraid. He was rarely afraid, but now he was. He was afraid that he might never find Cameron again, while at the same time he tried to convince himself they would be reunited soon.

Andrea noticed his depressed mood and gently patted his hand: "I don't know how you feel, true. I've never lost anyone dear to me … yet. But I hate to see you like this. Please, John, don't get yourself lost in grieving. Cameron wouldn't like you to."

John listened to her half heartedly, but still registered her words and he turned to her: "I won't succumb in despair, if that's what you're afraid, Andrea. I'm sad, very sad, but I won't rest until I got her back. And that's the vow."

Andrea felt his spirit rising again and smiled gently: "That's the spirit!" Then she paused and got serious again: "I promise not to tell anyone about her. My lips are sealed."

John smiled at her pained: "Thanks Andrea. That's all I ever could ever ask of you. Although Tim will also have to find out about her eventually." His eyes swept over the room and returned to hers: "I guess I didn't even say thank you for finding me and bringing me back. So … thanks again, for saving my ass. You're a true friend."

Andrea grinned back at him: "You're welcome. I'm sure you'd do the same if you were the one to search for me."

"You bet I would. You bet I would!" John nodded.

TBC


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Few illuminated windows in the scarce dispersed houses of the village, which name Tim didn't even memorize, were the only signs that people actually lived here. For someone like Tim, coming from the bustling city of San Diego, this was a model backwater settlement and he began to seriously ask himself what people did for living in such small, remote villages. There were no workshops, no factories, he just noticed few scattered farms, each far away from another. In the village itself, he only noticed a small grocery shop, which was naturally closed at this time and nothing else that could be regarded as some business to earn for the living. And yet there were buildings along the main road that witnessed that people lived here, or, at least, used to. Well, to be honest; it was completely dark and he could have missed some bigger buildings, standing more distant to the road, but he somehow doubted that that could be the case. The village simply didn't look like there could have been any such buildings.

_Oh well, at least they have paved roads! That's already something!_ His thought was interrupted by sudden recognition, that he had absolutely no idea where he could find a doctor, if this village even had one. Judging from the number of houses he'd seen so far it could be that there was no doctor here. He sighed and slowed down to crawling speed, trying to see through the dark, his efforts assisted actually only by the car's headlights. Here and there, but too far apart to be of any real help, street lamps threw their weak light on the road. The circle of light beneath each mast was not exactly bright even in its center, getting weaker as it spread out and about 20 feet from the center the darkness already won the battle against the light.

For few minutes he drove slowly along the road, cursing backcountry in general and this remote village in particular, when his eyes suddenly lit up. Not far away ahead, a bright neon sign signaled a saloon and according to the numerous cars, parked in front of the building, it was definitely open. OK, numerous might have been a little exaggerated. After a second, more thorough look, he could count four cars, all battered pickups, parked in front of the porch, leading to the door. _What else could these country bumpkins drive than an old, run down pickup. The real workhorse of the nation. _He snorted quietly and had to remind himself that he should restrain himself from such open display of his feelings in the presence of inhabitants.

He didn't elaborate on his disdain any more, for he stepped on the accelerator to reach the saloon as soon as possible. In few seconds he parked his SUV at the end of the row of parked pickups. He switched off the engine and remained seated for few more seconds. Suddenly he got a bad feeling; perhaps it was even slight fear, creeping into his bones. These guys, especially if they've already had few beers or even something stronger, were most definitely no nonsense brothers. He should behave correctly; otherwise he could find himself flying out of the saloon faster than he would have gotten in. He sighed, opened the door and stepped out. After a second of hesitation, he slammed the car door shut and stepped on the porch towards the door.

"Nice ride you've got there, boy!" A voice from the darkness stopped him dead in his tracks and he even winced a little, so unexpected was the sound of another human being here. He didn't see anyone before and the voice clearly surprised him. He tried to see through the darkness and finally saw a man about forty years old, dressed in worn out jeans and faded flannel shirt, with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, stepping out of the darkness. He had a long black hair, carefully bound into a pony tail and even in such sparse lighting he could see that he was at least partly of Native American origin. _What a joke! Exactly the way they portray the first encounter of a big city boy with a small village people in the Hollywood movies! Did I land in one such movie by mistake?_ The thought shot through his brain and his initial discomfort or even fear after the man talked to him, remained there, albeit not so strong. Only after he carefully looked into his face which gave away a quite friendly impression, did it begin to subside and he felt bolder again. Then he turned to look at the cars and grinned involuntarily. His SUV really stuck out of the row of battered pickups like a sore thumb. Even though they had already used it on the terrain it was still far too clean and in far too good condition for the company of off road proved pickups.

"Sure, I like it." He decided to at least try to look as nonchalant as he supposed would be correct in this milieu. He put his right hand in the trouser's pocket and turned fully to look at the man who was now standing about five feet from him.

The man grinned at him, spit the cigarette which had clearly been out for a long time now on the ground and crushed it with his boot carefully. _What unnecessary action! Maybe he's really that careful as to crush an extinguished cigarette or maybe he's just pulling up a show for me?_ Tim didn't come further in his elaborations as the man turned to look at him again and shook his head while smiling at him indulgently: "Boy, you're looking for trouble if you go in there and behave like that."

Tim's grin slowly vanished and he slowly pulled his hand out of the pocket, while his whole body tensed as if he would be anticipating something bad coming his way.

"Whoa, stop right now, boy! I'm not here to do you any harm!" The man raised his hands with palms turned towards Tim and grinned wider at him. "I'm just warning you that there are some not so friendly farmers in there and according to the time they've already spent in the saloon, they might be just a little bit cranky if a dandy like you waltzed in and tried to talk to them."

Tim knew that the man was right and sighed: "I know that I'm not exactly the country type. But I've got a friend who's injured and I need to find a doctor. I was just hoping …"

"… that you'd ask if there's a doctor in this village, and how to get to him, right?" The man finished Tim's sentence and nodded more to himself than to Tim. He turned towards the road and spit on the dusty ground again. After he turned back to Tim, who was looking at him with slightly widened eyes, he smiled. This time even his eyes smiled a bit: "I'll tell you boy. There is a doctor in this village and if you hurry, you can even catch him before he is called somewhere else or goes to bed."

Tim suddenly felt slightly embarrassed that he looked at the man so distrusting and nodded: "I'd be very grateful, sir."

"Don't 'sir' me, boy! I'm a simple man and I'm not used to be talked to like I was some British nobleman." The man snorted in disgust and continued after a while: "So, you turn back to where you came from, take the third road to the left, continue along it for about half a mile and then turn right on the dirt road. Along this road there's a house where the doctor lives, the first one after you turn on it. But be careful! He lives with his mother and she can be quite unpleasant or at least overprotective of her doctor son sometimes. Should she try to convince you that the poor doctor isn't at home don't accept it; insist that you need to see him and tell her that The Beaver told you that he'd be there."

Tim nodded: "So, your name is 'The Beaver'?"

The man laughed aloud and shook his head: "Of course not! But she'll know who sent you."

Tim felt a bit stupid and smiled apologetically: "Sorry. Thank you very much for your information." He already started towards his car, but stopped again and looked at the man: "Am I too impolite if I ask you for your name? I'm Tim."

The man laughed again: "No, boy, you're not too impolite." Then he turned and vanished into darkness like a ghost, leaving the young man behind.

Tim stood there rooted to the spot with open mouth for few seconds, gazing after the man, who disappeared into darkness. Then he shook his head and started towards his car. _Right! Don't ask stupid questions if you don't want to get such vague answers._

Glad that he didn't have to enter the bar and challenge his luck after all, Tim turned the car and started back along the street, carefully watching the crossings and as he counted the third one, he turned left. _'Continue along it for about half a mile.'_ The words the man said to him caused him to pay special attention to the road. When he was almost half a mile from the crossing, he noticed three dirt roads on the right side. "All right! It's never easy. Now … which one should I chose?" He murmured into his chin while craning his neck to see if he could spot some light in the general direction of the three dirt roads. But he could see none, so he sighed and turned onto the first road. He shook off the thought that the man had maybe lured him into a trap by telling him something he wanted to hear. _Could it be that there is something or someone waiting for him at the end of this road?_ He shook his head and continued. He had to trust someone and the man looked trustworthy enough.

After driving for almost a mile and seeing no houses at all, he decided that this must have been the wrong one and started to look for a suitable place to turn back. Unfortunately, the road was embedded lower than the surrounding fields and it was too narrow to turn the car on it, so he had to continue for another half mile before he reached the place where he could turn. Cursing under the breath for loosing precious time, he finally turned the car and hurried back to the main road.

Choosing the second road, he slowly began to grow nervous. He was losing a lot of time, time which was important for John to get help. He drove faster than he should and in a moment, as his attention wasn't completely on the road, he hit a deep pothole that shook the car vigorously and almost lifted him out of the seat. Strange sound coming from the front left wheel caused him to curse loudly this time and he stopped the car to check if anything was broken. As he stopped, still cursing, he opened the door and stepped outside. His eyes swept the surroundings and he saw a weak light shining between the trees on the right side of the road. "This must be it!" His mood suddenly improved and he stepped around the car to check the wheel, which caused him to stop here. In the weak starlight he didn't see anything, so he squatted to check the tire. He could feel that it was obviously still undamaged and sighed relieved.

He straightened and checked the light, gleaming through the trees, again. Judging by the intensity of the light, he could tell that he was very close to the house and smiled satisfied for apparently finding the right one. While he looked at the light, he suddenly registered the sound of a car engine, nearing him quite fast. His eyes narrowed at his car, judging if the oncoming car would have enough space to pass it and, although he didn't see quite good in the dark, he judged that he stopped the car close enough to the edge of the road, so that even a big truck could drive by without a problem. Still, he wasn't quite sure, so he decided to get into the car before the oncoming driver would reach him. The headlights of the car already flashed through the darkness and according to the way they jumped up and down, Tim believed that the driver must be driving very fast, probably way too fast for the condition of the dirt road, where areas without potholes were rarer than the areas, covered by them.

He was just about to open the door of his SUV as the fast approaching car came. The engine roared like the driver would be on the race track rather than on the open road and the headlights blinded Tim for a second. And that was the fateful second. Before he could pull the door handle, he heard wild screeching of the brakes and felt how something hit him like a sledgehammer. In a second his world went black and he couldn't even think of how he'd screwed it up before the veil of darkness spread over him.

The radio was booming an old heavy metal song that only middle aged or even older lovers of such music still recognized and the man's head lolled from side to side while he was trying to sing along the screeching voice of the band singer. His attempts of singing would chase away any bear or wolf or any wild beast for that matter, so out of tune it was. He had had a few drinks in the saloon and he was in the stage of feeling almighty and above the profanities of everyday's life, just on the verge of being the divine savior of everyone and everything alive in this universe. Actually, he had had a few drinks too much after he already got drunk somewhere else, where he celebrated his new job with his friends, who, wisely enough, decided not to continue the bar tour, which he proposed and even tried to talk him out of his intention, naturally without any success. As he sat in his car and turned the engine on, he felt invincible and turned the radio on blasting full power. After he turned from the main road to the dirt one, he stomped 'pedal to the metal' and drove with speed that even a sober driver wouldn't be able to control completely. The potholes shook the car almost constantly, but in his drunken stupor he didn't notice them and belled aloud to the music while trying to drive even faster.

Suddenly he noticed a car, parked along the road and a young man, who was just reaching for the door handle to get into it. Had he been sober, he might have made it past him, but in his alcohol induced state, he hit the brakes furiously instead of trying to avoid the obstacle. It had been a little too less and a little too late. A half screamed curse died abruptly on his lips as he felt how he hit the man and saw how his body whirled through the air, crashed on the road and remained there unmoving.

He managed to stop before he overrun the boy, lying in the middle of the road like a broken puppet and for few seconds only loud music chased disturbed the silence of the night. He sat behind the wheel, gripping it so tight that his knuckles turned completely white. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck …" He repeated the same word endlessly, like he would have put it on the loop play while his eyes stared glassily at the battered body in front of his car without blinking.

After few seconds he finally regained his senses and reached for the knob on the radio to turn it off while staring at the body in the middle of the road. Now only the soft sound of engine, which still ran, could be heard. The man slowly reached for the key, switched the engine off and opened the door. With weary steps like he would be hundred years old, he stepped over to Tim, who was still lying where his body hit the ground like dead.

The man slowly got on one knee and shook Tim, to wake him up but with no success. The boy remained unresponsive and the man began to panic. He couldn't see if the boy was breathing or not, he couldn't feel if his heart was still beating and in his seriously diminished mental capabilities he concluded that the boy must have been killed in the crash.

_What the fuck am I going to do? I can't let them get me!_ He raked his fingers through his hair in desperation and tried to find a solution to this problem. He was drunk, but still not drunk enough not to know what would happen, should he be caught by the police. _I have to bring him somewhere. They may not find him. _He suddenly felt better after finding a solution of his problem, a solution, which he at the moment found as best possible.

He rose to his feet again, looked over to the SUV, parked at the side of the road and noticed that the engine wasn't running. _That won't be a problem. They'll find a car and they'll think that some punk stole it and left it here._ He nodded to himself and quickly stepped to the trunk of his car. His steps were insecure and walking in straight line was something he was momentarily managing only with absolute concentration. But the horror and the shock that got him in its tight grip, gave him strength and limited clarity and he managed to open the trunk without any further problems. Then he returned to Tim and grabbed him under armpits. He began dragging him towards the trunk of his car but staggered significantly after he made his first few steps. He might have been under adrenaline rush, but Tim was still bigger and heavier than him and dragging such a guy as dead weight was something that even completely sober man of his built and strength would find challenging.

He somehow managed to drag the still form of the boy to the rear end of his car and after quite a long time of panting, pushing and cursing, managed to stuff him into the trunk with significant troubles. After he finally closed the trunk door, he leaned against the car roof with his elbows, leaned his forehead against his palms and panted heavily for few seconds. _Come on! I've no time to throw away! The doc might have heard something and could come here to check it. I have to go!_

Still breathing heavily, he managed to open the driver's door and sat in the car. As he got out of it before, he left the keys in the ignition and needed only a second to start the engine. Then he drove off like all the hell's furies would be hot on his tail. After few seconds only a slowly settling could of dust and an abandoned SUV at the side of the road witnessed that something happened here just moments ago.

The head beams of the car illuminated the forest, throwing crooked shadows of the trees and bushes, making them look more like some of Tim Burton's strange creations than what they actually were. The light cones jumped up and down, just like the car, driving over the rough terrain, hitting the hole or a protruding root every now and then. The man behind the wheel had to clutch fiercely to the steering wheel not to be thrown out of the seat each time the car jerked again. His white knuckles and his haunted look, drops of sweat riding down his forehead that he tried to wipe with the back of his hand or a sleeve every now and then, attested to his almost panicked state of mind. After he drove off from the site where he hit Tim, he couldn't stop thinking of what he'd done. He was aware that he probably killed an innocent young man by driving in his drunken state. Strange though, he didn't look or feel that drunk anymore. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was driving a presumably dead man in his trunk; perhaps the adrenaline, still coursing through his body in excessive amounts, caused him to think more clearly. He knew that he screwed it big time but he still wasn't sober enough to admit to have done a terrible mistake and to stand to his deeds. He still wanted to cover it and pretend like nothing happened at all.

He was driving deeper into the forest, trying to find a place, where he could dispose of the body in the trunk and disappear into the night. He knew these forests quite good and was sure that he'd find some appropriate place very soon. Place, where the body wouldn't be found for a long time if ever. There were very few people roaming these dark forests at this time of day and majority of them had something to hide or were in here because of some unclear, maybe even dark business of their own, business that they wouldn't want to be revealed, so he was reasonably sure that his secret would remain a secret until all evidence of it would disappear. Should one of these questionable souls ever find the body, they would probably be more than reluctant to inform either the rangers or the police, fearing that their own secrets might be brought into the daylight, should law enforcers begin to swarm around these areas.

The car lights illuminated a small clearing in the woods, with just enough place to turn the car, surrounded by thick bushes and tall trees. A perfect place to hide something, for the clearing was well hidden behind the bushes and no uninvited looks from outside could disturb the serenity or perhaps the nightmare, hiding behind all the bushes. The car stopped and almost immediately the door opened and the sweating man climbed out. He had to take hold at the car roof for a second to steady his trembling knees and drew in some deep breaths before he could go any further. The whole thing got to him much deeper than he thought and he realized that he would probably be haunted by this gruesome event for the rest of his life. Still, it was better to be haunted by nightmares than to sit in the prison for who knows how many years. At least the man believed it right now.

He stepped around the car to the trunk, opened it and pulled Tim's body out of it, not without difficulties. Uncharacteristically gentle for someone who just decided to hide the body, resulting from his reckless handling, he laid Tim's body on the ground, feeling the wave of guilt sweeping over him again. Well, he could at least not be too harsh on the poor guy, who's only mistake was that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He reached for the shovel, lying in the trunk, but hesitated for a second. Would it really be the best to bury him? Or would it be even better to just dump him under the bushes and let the wild animals do the rest? He knew that there were not exactly few big predators roaming these forests and they would probably be the best solution to let the body disappear without leaving any trace at all.

For few seconds he stood there unmoving, hand on the shovel and his eyes looking at the body on the ground without really seeing it, while he contemplated what would be the best way to get rid of it. Then life returned into his eyes, he shuddered a little and let loose of the shovel. He bowed to Tim, packed him under the armpits and began to drag him towards the thick bushes, surrounding the small clearing.

It was quite an effort for him to drag Tim's body towards the bushes and after he finally made it, his face was again covered in sweat, this time not only from his inner mental torment but also from physical effort. He dropped Tim near the bushes and swept over his forehead and eyebrows with the sleeve which was already wet from his former attempts to wipe his sweating face. His eyes wandered to Tim again and his face scrunched in a grimace, revealing his inner turmoil.

"I'm sorry buddy. I really am. But it's the only way." He murmured more to himself than to Tim and turned on his heel abruptly. In few quick steps, which more resembled fleeing than walking, he reached his car and got in without glancing back. The engine started and in just a few seconds he managed to turn the car and leave the clearing the same way he came.

In a matter of few moments even the shimmering red light of the car taillights vanished and the quiet of the night forest returned. Creatures of the night resumed their chirping, they went after whatever they did during the night and sounds of all possible forms could be heard again. Nothing revealed that only minutes ago a real drama happened here. A young man had been dumped here as dead to be taken by the predators to erase any proof that someone made a terrible mistake and took an innocent life.

* * *

After Jeremiah left them, Derek and Sarah sat in silence, awaiting the appearance of the terminator, which had been assigned the task to get the required information from them. They gained no false hopes that they could escape. Not now, not from here. Sarah still pondered over the things Jeremiah told her and felt how her stomach clenched into an ever tighter knot. She was aware that John was in grave danger. Even Cameron in all her fierceness couldn't protect him should these guys set out to find him. Besides; she was the second target of the company and they knew what she was, so they would know very well how to disable her. They would come prepared for her. Sarah was sure they would sent everything they've got after her son and his fiancée and according to what they had seen up till now, that was probably more than enough to defeat and capture them both. She believed that the terminator, named Mr. Muscle, who was to exert its torturing skills on them both shortly, wasn't the only terminator that Kaliba had to offer. And even Cameron could not compete with two or more terminators. After all, she wasn't designed to fight other machines, that much was absolutely clear to her.

Derek looked at the wall darkly, trying to find a way out of this shitty situation and fearing that the company might already be hot on John's tail and that everything Jeremiah told them was only a maneuver to make them believe like they'd need their information about exact location of John and Cameron. Everything suddenly seemed very surreal and he asked himself for the umpteenth time why didn't he stop Sarah as she decided to break into the facility. But, as usual, there was no use crying over the spilt milk and his main preoccupation should be how to withstand the torture that, of its inevitability he was sure, would start very soon, with only one goal: breaking them before they would be killed. After his interrogation in the future, as he broke and told Cameron everything, he swore that he'd never again betray John Connor. _Funny … now I'm in the position that I have to protect the terminator, who initially interrogated me and broke me. If that's not a paradox, then I have no idea what this word means._

After few minutes the door opened again and heavy steps announced the arrival of Mr. Muscle. Sarah sighed: "Here we go again!" and cast a resigned look at Derek. He didn't answer, he just nodded and his face darkened even more.

The heavy steps stopped for few seconds behind their backs. Neither Sarah nor Derek tried to turn to see what was coming upon them. They knew what was in the store for them today and didn't have to see for themselves to confirm their expectations.

The steps resumed and slowly the body builder-like terminator rounded Sarah and stopped in front of her. Its eyes looked at her expressionlessly and they reminded Sarah of a look that a snake must give to a mouse before grabbing it, with one minor difference: she believed that the snake showed more life than this machine. There was no life in these eyes, no expression on the face, set in stone.

Sarah grinned and snarled at the machine: "So, you're back to get something out of me, tin can? I'll have to disappoint you though. I won't tell you anything."

The machine stared at her for few seconds, probably contemplating the best possible answer and replied with cold mechanical voice: "I disagree. In due time you'll give us the necessary information."

Sarah grinned wider: "I wouldn't bet on it." She tried to continue her ranting and challenging the machine, but Derek cut her off: "Sarah, don't accept its game. Stay quiet and don't say anything that might possibly be useful to them."

Sarah knew that Derek was right, but she had to vent her frustration and anger. And yet … after hearing Derek's serious warning, she rethought it again. Derek knew the interrogation techniques that the machines used in the future and she was sure that he was only trying to help her to prepare for the inevitable oncoming torture. She just nodded: "OK, Derek!"

The terminator still gazed at her unblinking and not a single muscle moved on its body. Sarah grinned at him: "Don't try the same approach again. I won't break under your stare. I have had enough experience with staring contests to know what you are up to."

Derek chuckled humorlessly at her words, remembering his many staring contests with Cameron. He lost each and every one of them and he didn't believe that Sarah could be that much better than him to win such a contest: "I'm not sure if it's a thing you could win, Sarah. But you're welcome to try, nevertheless."

"I have no intentions to win it. I'm just trying to make things clear for the metal here. I'm just trying to tell it that it won't break me by staring at me. I've had enough experiences with our resident terminator to gain any false hopes of winning a staring contest with a machine. I don't need to accept its challenge at all." Sarah chuckled back.

The terminator's eyes finally blinked and turned to Derek: "You're talking too much!" It stepped over to Derek and slapped him so hard that he'd tip over together with the chair, hadn't it been fixed to the floor. Derek's head almost touched his shoulder, again, but he straightened up immediately and grinned at the machine: "You hit like a baby!" He knew that he could only make things worse, but he couldn't help himself not to respond in such a way. Although he just advised Sarah not to accept the machine's game, he instantly forgot all good intentions and hate and rage burned in his eyes as he stared at the terminator. His cheek already hurt a lot, being hit for the second time and he really expected that should the machine hit him a third time, he'd lose at least some of his teeth. He already had a feeling that some of them were not sitting tightly in the gums any more.

The machine's face remained expressionless and it gazed at Derek like it would be frozen in time and place. It was obviously only trying different approaches to interrogation and not trying to kill him or even acting out of anger. According to its face, it was highly unbelievable that it would experience any kind of emotions at all. Then it turned to Sarah and stepped to her. Before she could react, it reached for her hands and tore the rope that held her tied to the chair.

Sarah gasped in surprise, but before she could say anything, the machine tore the remaining restrains too, so that she was now free of them. For a second a thought crossed her mind to try to run, but she discarded it immediately. She wouldn't even be able to stand up before the machine would get her. So she waited and only looked at the machine in surprise.

The terminator didn't waste any time. It grabbed Sarah by the collar and lifted her out of the chair like a small kitten. She tried to protest, but before she could utter a single word, it set her back down on her feet: "You're coming with me."

Derek cursed under his breath. It was happening again; the machine would interrogate, or, better to say, torture, each of them separately, just like it had always happened in the future. He tugged at his restrains and yelled: "You metal mother fucker! Leave her alone. Take me!" The veins in his neck threatened to burst, with such force he tried to break free. He instantly forgot the pain in his cheek, he only saw a machine, dragging Sarah away to torture her.

The machine slowly turned towards him and gazed at him coldly for few second. "You're next." It answered laconically, turned back to Sarah and pushed her towards the door so that she staggered towards them. She tried to remain upright, but the machine pushed her too forcefully and she fell on her face halfway to the door. Her nose hit the floor with almost undiminished momentum and she felt how it broke. Even though she tried to catch herself with her hands, she failed to react on time. The copper taste of blood instantly filled her mouth and she had to spit the blood out.

Derek watched in horror how Sarah crashed to the floor and he also heard the annoying crunching sound as her nose broke upon the impact. "You bastard! Mother fucker!" He couldn't restrain himself and he roared like a wounded bull at the machine. How dare this metal hurt Sarah!

The terminator watched everything calmly, obviously completely detached and didn't even react to Derek's yell, nor did it pay any attention to Sarah's moaning as she tried to position her nose bone. It simply stepped to Sarah, pulled her up and put her on her feet again. "Go!" Its voice was unchanged: cold and emotionless.

After it frog-marched Sarah out of the room, Derek finally stopped roaring his rich repertoire of curses at the machine. He knew that it would bring no effect at all, but he was so mad at the metal that he lost self control. After the door closed again and he was left in the room alone, he suddenly asked himself why he reacted so strongly to the fact that Sarah was brought to the interrogation. Was it just because she was John's mother and therefore important for the future? Was it perhaps because she was such a strong woman? Or was it perhaps because he really liked her? Actually, 'like' was insufficient description of what he felt for her. He admired her and he looked up to her as if she were an idol on the pedestal. She was the strongest woman he ever met and for someone, who had spent almost entire life between hardened resistance fighters, it was very unusual to look upon a woman, who never fought in the war as she'd be the war goddess herself. He was used to strong women, but Sarah Connor was the toughest one he'd ever met. Even before he came back in time, he looked up to Sarah Connor as the legend of the resistance, whom every single soldier respected, although no one knew her. John, future John, did a good job at presenting his mother's virtues to the resistance. He planted the picture of her in the minds of his men, a picture that remained there as an axiom, never to be forgotten, always to be looked upon with awe.

His head fell down to his chest and he closed his eyes. He knew that very soon he'd hear Sarah's screams. He had no doubts that the machine would torture her with intention to break him. It was an old, but still quite successful interrogation technique which the machines applied extensively in the future too; they would at first watch the group dynamics and find out who was the one, whom the others liked the most. Then they would pick up this person, preferably a woman and began torturing her, while all the others had to listen to agonizing screams. And all too often one of them broke in hope that his cooperation would save the tortured one. As it later came out without exception, such hopes were false. The machines would kill them both: the tortured and the one who tried to save them.

He also knew that it was just a matter of time before Sarah's screams would begin to tear down his defenses eventually bringing him dangerously close to the breaking point. He could take it with torture; but he wasn't sure if he could listen to how the machine would torture Sarah. And yet, he had to be strong. He knew that no matter how tempted he might be to save Sarah, she would never forgive him should he say anything about John. Then a though crossed his mind; Sarah would kill him with her bare hands, should he tell anything about John. But … what about Cameron? Could he tell them something about the cyborg?

After few second of pondering on the thought, he shook his head … no, Sarah would never forgive him even if he'd say anything about Cameron. After all … Cameron was never more than three feet away from John and should they know where to find her, they'd find John right beside her. Additionally he suspected that Sarah might have been prepared to decapitate him even for betraying Cameron alone. He didn't miss how she bonded with the cyborg girl since their winter vacation. Not that he'd approve of it, but he accepted it and even he started to look at Cameron differently, accepting her as a part of Connor clan. No … that was absolutely impossible … betraying Cameron was something he would never do … not anymore.

The seconds turned into minutes and he soon lost the feeling of how long had it been since the machine took Sarah away. Suddenly he winced. A faint woman's yelp penetrated his mind. He shook his head as if he could chase the reality away by such action. He knew that it was useless, but he still squeezed his eyes shut. He had no doubts that it was Sarah's voice and he knew with certainty that her cries would become stronger and more agonizing with time. He tried to breathe deeply to calm down, but the effect he achieved was exactly the opposite. His agitation grew and as Sarah's second cry, this time louder and longer, reached his ears, he was already trembling in rage and his eyes flashed angrily towards the wall, from which's direction the cries could be heard. He squeezed his eyes shut and grinded his teeth, ignoring the searing pain that it send down his bruised jaw, hoping to somehow filter out the screams.

Sarah's cries gradually became stronger and more tormented and, just like he anticipated, they cut into his very soul like a hot knife through the butter. He had to constantly repeat that she would never forgive him should he say anything to the interrogators just to stop them from torturing Sarah. There was definitely one of them just behind the door, waiting for him to break down and to call for them. He knew that without seeing it. The interrogation techniques of the machines and their allies which he experienced in the future didn't change just because some of them travelled back through time. It was clear that everything that happened here was a work of machines and greys, sent back in time for whatever reason it might be. He suspected that it was not only to kill John, but also to assure the creation of Skynet. He knew that there were not only terminators sent back, but also others, scientists and unscrupulous specimen of human breed, trying to assure and accelerate the development of that certain AI, called Skynet.

While he occupied himself with trying to get the picture of the whole situation, as distraction and attempt to somehow filter out Sarah's cries, they grew even louder and more haunting, but then stopped abruptly. This sudden silence caused him to instantly abandon his train of thoughts and his ears perked up to hear what was going on. The silence scared him far more than the tormented cries of Sarah Connor. Could it be that the machine killed her? He felt his heart flutter in fear at this thought. He finally realized that he cared for Sarah much more than he should. He cared for her as a woman, not only as a mother of his general or as his brother's love of his life. He had felt like that for quite a while now and as it seemed at the moment, there was a realistic possibility that he would never be able to somehow show it to her.

Before he could carry on with his inner monologue, the door opened again and the terminator entered the room. His hands and sleeves were covered in blood and there were even some drops of blood on his face, which calmly stared towards Derek. Derek tensed up and his face scrunched up in hate, hate towards this machine which was covered in Sarah's blood.

The machine stepped in front of him and looked at him with dead eyes and unmoving face. Derek was on the verge of exploding into its face, but remembered his own advices, given to Sarah, that that was exactly what they wanted to achieve, so he bit on his tongue with such force that he tasted his blood again, this time caused by his own teeth.

While the terminator gazed at him unfazed, Derek managed to gradually calm down, regardless the volcano, erupting inside him and gave the machine a crooked smirk: "So, you finally got your way. You finally killed Sarah Connor!"

The machine continued to stare at him for a while, but after few seconds it responded without moving a single muscle: "No. Sarah Connor is still alive. My instructions were to interrogate her but not kill her. So I didn't terminate her." After few seconds in which Derek's heart swelled in happiness that Sarah was still alive, the machine added in somehow sly tone: "Yet."

Instantly Derek's attention had been woken by this small word and he felt how his hopes deflated again. It was obvious that this machine was at least semi self conscious and that represented the possibility it could break free of its preprogrammed pattern sometime. It showed to Derek, that the terminator probably would kill Sarah out of its own will, were it not bound by the directive to obey the commands that it obviously found wrong and would find the first opportunity to disobey or at least ignore them. And this possibility, that this terminator could break free of the restrains that its programming put on its actions, scared him more than anything else. It would be unimaginable that the machine would not follow the commands. It would be like the hell unleashed. But he had to find out more about what happened to Sarah, so he pushed such thoughts into background.

"So, she told you nothing and now you came back to see if I would break down and tell you what you want to hear?" Derek snorted contemptuously at the machine but in the next moment his head jerked backwards with such a force that his neck would probably snap, would it not have been for the backrest of the chair against which his head crashed violently. He believed that his skull was close to cracking, such was the force of the impact. If the blow which the machine delivered to him wouldn't almost render him unconscious the impact of his head was very nearly strong enough to do the job.

He felt dizzy but remembered not to shake his head on time. Should he move it too abruptly, it would only cause him further pain. After few seconds he composed himself so that he could think semi clearly again. He felt intense pain in his jaw, guessing that it was still in one piece, but just barely.

The terminator stared at him: "You will tell us where to find John Connor."

Derek managed to give him a pained smirk, feeling how the blood from his mouth trickled down his chin: "You can dream of it, tin can." Even trying to curl his lips upwards caused him severe pain.

The next blow came from his left side; this time not aimed for the head but under his ribs and Derek could swear that he heard at least one of ribs snapping under the violent punch. Sharp stabbing pain caused him to almost lose his consciousness. But he knew that the machine was using just enough force to make the most pain, while still keeping him alive and conscious. Although, the fact that Sarah was obviously still unconscious, spoke that it wasn't always completely in control of the situation. So he tried to breathe shallowly and spat blood towards the machine: "Nice try. But not good enough."

The terminator didn't bother to answer him; it didn't even hit him again. Instead, it reached into the pocket of its pants and pulled out a knife. It opened it and began to cut off the buttons on Derek's shirt. It worked precisely, quickly and in few seconds, all the buttons were cut off. Then the machine grabbed the sides of his shirt and ripped it from his body.

Derek's eyes fell down to the spot which the machine hit before and noticed the ugly bruising already forming there. It hurt like hell and he was now sure that at least one of his ribs was cracked. _Why did it cut the buttons off before ripping the shirt?_ A sudden thought crossed his mind and he almost snorted in realization that he was having such stupid ideas while his life was hanging on a thin thread.

The machine then put the tip of the knife on the left side of his chest and pressed just enough to break the skin and a small trickle of blood began to flow down his chest. Then the machine began to slice his skin towards the nipple, causing Derek to scream in pain. He had been determined not to show the machine that it hurt him, but it pained too much and he decided that it would be better to scream than to try to remain stoic, but eventually break down and talk.

The slicing continued for few minutes and soon Derek had a surreal pattern of blood covered cuts across his chest and abdomen. And yet, none of the cuts was dangerous, none of them was deep enough to seriously endanger his life. They were just deep enough to cause the maximum pain, without being life threatening. His screams slowly subsidized as he felt numbness creeping into him. The pain gradually evolved into something throbbing in his gut but not so intense that he'd have to scream. The machine's eyes revealed nothing as it gazed intently into his face. But after it achieved no effect, it changed the tactics. It carefully wiped the bloodied knife with the remains of Derek's shirt, closed it and put it back into its pocket. Then it looked at Derek coldly again: "There are many more methods that we'll try on you. Some will be much more painful than the ones that I already applied. It would be more acceptable for you to tell us what we need to know and it might spare you some of the most painful moments and kill you quickly." Its eyes didn't blink as it spoke and absolutely no emotions could be seen on its face.

Derek managed to even his breathing after the machine stopped slicing him like a piece of meat and looked at it, grinning shakily: "I know exactly what you will try on me later. I've been through such interrogations before and am prepared for them. You won't get any information from me."

The machine tilted its head and Derek found it unbelievably annoying to see this machine making the same gesture that Cameron applied so often. In spite of being a machine too, Cameron evolved well beyond what her creator intended her to and was light years away from this one. Derek realized that he lately even found her head tilt amusing, but seeing the same gesture on this machine made him feel nauseous. For few moments they stared into each other's eyes, Derek knowing very well that there was no way to win a staring contest with a terminator. He tried it too often in the past with Cameron to gain any hopes to win it. But he still could show this tin can that he was not afraid of it that it didn't manage to intimidate or scare him.

The staring contest continued for about two minutes and neither of the contestants was ready to give in. Finally Derek lowered his eyes, although he felt like he could go on for a very long time. But the pain under his ribs, in his jaw and the now throbbing cuts on his torso made it almost impossible to keep his head up.

The machine showed no expression, it just continued staring at the top of Derek's head. Then it abruptly turned, stepped towards the door and left the room without uttering a single word.

TBC

* * *

_I hope you don't hate me now. Just as things started to look better, the events took a turn to worse. Just remember one thing ... it always gets darker before the dawn._

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate it and it helps me to understand what I'm doing right and what not. I'll try not to disappoint you.  
_


	11. Chapter 10

_There was no Cameron and John in the last chapter, so this one is all about them._

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Six hours. That's how much time passed since Cameron was brought to the lab and in this time they examined her legs and inspected her body. However, they never even tried to touch her chip neither they electrocuted her anew so she was aware of everything that was going on with her. She somehow got the idea that they wanted to humiliate her by letting her see everything that they did to her. And they did some really bad things. They sliced her open on some places to inspect her endoskeleton and after they finished their work, they simply left the cuts as they were, causing her to feel violated for the first time in her existence. She wondered how she could feel such a thing. It was definitely not something that an ordinary terminator could or should feel, but she felt it nevertheless. She reasoned that the months of living in a relationship with John changed her even more than she thought and made her more aware of the concept of privacy. To be honest, she never especially liked when humans sliced her open or fiddled with her chip, but now she found it clearly invasive to be handled like a piece of a simple machinery, to be cut without her consent and she felt her anger growing, no matter how irrational it might appear. _I'm really beginning to act like humans do. I'm just not sure if it's a good thing or not._

In this time, she assured herself that the man, who was probably the one whom she could use to help her, was definitely different than the others. She could see it now more clearly than before; he never touched her, he looked disapprovingly at his comrades as they cut away her clothes and effectively undressed her; as they made stupid comments about her body features he frowned ever so slightly and as they cut into her like she were a piece of meat, he looked even slightly pained. His dark looks towards the others raised Cameron's hopes that she could win him on her side once they would be alone. But she wasn't sure if it would ever happen. The words that the apparent leader of this base or whatever it was that she was now kept captive in, said to her before, made it completely clear that he was aware of her actions and it was more that probable that he'd try to prevent her being alone with the man, she chose to help her, provided that he knew at whom her actions before have been directed.

"OK, now let's electrocute it and bring it back to the safe room." One of the technicians finally interrupted the silence that had been laying over them for the last hour or so.

"Wait a minute! Aren't you forgetting something? Are you going to carry it there?" One of the other men argued and shook his head in dismay. "Wouldn't you first call the soldiers to bring it back?"

"Oh! Sure, that would be even better." The man, who proposed electrocuting her right away, grinned and hung his head, like he would be ashamed of his suggestion. Then he turned to the console, pressed one of the buttons and waited until the speaker came to life: "You should bring the robot into safe room. Of course, right away!" He cut the connection before the one, whom he was speaking to, could say anything more and turned to the others with annoyed face: "Who do these guys think they are, trying to argue with us."

The third man chuckled: "I guess that they think they're the ones with the guns."

The annoyance vanished from the man's face and he nodded: "You're right. That's an argument that shouldn't be dismissed so easily."

In that moment the door opened and the same group of soldiers that brought Cameron to the lab before, entered. Their leader looked at Cameron and his eyes widened slightly: "You've sliced it open like some dead chicken? Cut its legs?" He turned to the leader of the lab: "Did you find everything you've been looking for? Anything interesting?" His face betrayed no visible emotion, but in his eyes it was clear that he was surprised over the condition in which the lab crew brought Cameron. Not necessarily negatively but definitely surprised.

The lab leader answered with barely hidden annoyance: "I don't think that it's your business to ask such questions. Just bring it back to its safe room."

Judging on his slightly darkened face it was obvious that the soldier had to bite at his tongue to stop himself from giving the arrogant lab man some poisonous answer and nodded: "Right!" Then he turned towards his men: "OK, let's do it."

He fetched his taser and jabbed it into Cameron's side without hesitation, not even bothering to look at her like he did before. Only a split second later Cameron was again forced to switch off and everything went completely black.

After she rebooted, she was back in the room where she had been kept prior they brought her to the examination into the lab. She was still without her legs and strapped to the table again, just like before, minus the straps over her knees. Irrational anger suddenly got her in its grip and ignoring the logic warnings, flashing on her HUD, she clenched her teeth and pulled at the restrains with all her force. Of course the restrains held her in place and after a second of violent pulling and tugging at them she finally followed the suggestions of her logic, gave up again and stared wide eyed at the ceiling. She barely registered that she had only her bra and her panties on. The men in the lab obviously didn't think it necessary to cover her with anything.

Her reaction stunned her. It was the reaction which could be expected from a human, but definitely not from a cyborg. The cyborg would never act that way; the cyborg wouldn't pull at the restrains knowing that there was no way to get free. And yet she did. She suddenly became worried over her reactions. If she continued to behave like this, she wouldn't be an efficient protector of her John any more, of course, provided that she could find a way to escape these men first and reunite with her fiancée.

As soon as her thoughts turned to John, an unexpected wave of melancholy and anguish flooded her mind. If only she knew where he was, if only she knew that he was all right! Even if she had to perish here, it would be acceptable as long as she knew that John would be OK because of her sacrifice. But on the other hand … she didn't want to go; she didn't want to leave John. She knew that it would devastate him should she die, but it wasn't the only reason why she wanted to live … an quite uncharacteristic feeling that she wanted to live because she wanted to be with John was equally strong. For the first time in her existence she wanted something. It was definitely not an intention of Skynet to build a terminator with desires and wanting, but she developed them. She wanted to live, she wanted to be by John's side not only to protect him but also because it made her happy.

The door opened and interrupted her inner turmoil. She decided not to look who was entering the room, expecting that it would again be the man who came in yesterday and tried to intimidate her. She maintained the position of her head and stared at the ceiling, waiting for the visitor to come into her view field.

Upon expecting a certain person, she was slightly surprised when she felt how someone carefully covered her with a blanket and a man leaned over her, so that she got to see who it was. It was the man, whom she selected as a potential ally and he looked into her eyes with an unusual expression. She tried to identify it and was even a bit astounded to come to the conclusion that he looked worried. She, however, controlled her facial expression perfectly and didn't reveal to the man that he surprised her.

She tried to decide what would be the best possible course of action and came to the conclusion that she'd allow the man to speak first. She would just let her troubled mind to mirror in her eyes a bit. Not too much, just enough that he could notice it. In all the movies she used to watch before during long, lonesome nights before she began to spend her nights in John's bed, a damsel in distress was something that made all men weak and wanting to help her. Sure, she knew now that the reality was not just like they tried to present it in Hollywood movies, but the general concept of chivalry was still a very living thing and if she could play it right it could only be of benefit to her cause. She almost grinned at the thought … a metal damsel in distress; definitely not something what someone would expect. Just like Snow White was a cyborg from a distant future, sent back to the fairy tale world.

The man looked at her for few seconds and noticed how her eyes reflected her state of mind. He couldn't forget the looks she gave him in the laboratory and before he came here he was debating with himself if she would show her emotions again or was it just an act, used in specific place and at specific time. After pondering all pros and contras, he decided that he should follow his intentions to find out more about this remarkable machine, that managed to creep into his mind and occupy his thoughts ever since he first saw her yesterday in this very room. Him being here was direct result of his decision.

"Are you all right?" His voice was a little insecure and he realized that he asked a very stupid question. How could she be all right, being tied to the table, having her legs removed and being a captive, serving as a guinea pig for their research. Not to even mention the numerous cuts that his colleagues made on her skin to check the metal skeleton underneath. Before she could answer, he muttered: "Stupid question, I know. Sorry for asking."

Cameron was just about to answer his dumb question sarcastically, but after he admitted to have asked a stupid question, she nodded slightly, as much as she could in her position: "Yes, stupid question. But nevertheless … thank you for asking."

The man straightened up and saw how her eyes followed him. He nervously rubbed his hands and opened his mouth for few times before he finally asked: "May I ask you some questions?"

Cameron now knew that this man really wasn't the bad guy. His hesitation, his embarrassment wasn't acted, he really felt so. So she nodded again: "Sure. But I don't know if I'll be able to answer them." Everything was completely different now than it had been before in the lab. This man was obviously seeing something more than just a simple programmed machine in her and was apparently genuinely interested in her, not just in her hyper alloy combat chassis and her programming. He obviously saw at least a bit beyond the mechanical nature of her body.

The man gave her a ghost of a smile: "I know that there are things that you wouldn't want to tell." He paused and wiped his forehead with his slightly shaking hand before he continued: "What are you? I mean … I had no idea that something like you even existed. I know that you came from the future, that much we have been informed of. But … how is it possible that such perfect copy of a human could even have been created? We are not nearly capable of building something like you"

Cameron thought over his question for a second, not really knowing what to answer him, so she decided to try to get more information before she would decide upon her answer: "What have you been informed about me?"

The man noticed very well that she was evading his question, but it didn't surprise him at all. He actually expected such reaction and decided to tell her more about information they received about her. He knew that he shouldn't be so trusting towards this machine, but he somehow got the feeling that he could trust her. He ignored all the warnings that every member of this team got about this particular machine. He ignored the warnings that the machine would try to look human and gain their trust. He simply couldn't believe that these expressive eyes could be deceiving him, that they could be lying to him. He sighed: "You're evading my question, aren't you? Remarkable! I would never expect that a machine would act that way." He paused and looked into her eyes, staring at him unblinkingly. "We don't know very much about you. Just that you came from the future, that you're a machine, designed to kill humans and that your neural net processor is the most sophisticated computer that has ever been made."

Cameron processed his answer and decided that she should correct some of his incorrect statements and give him some vague answers to his questions. "Your information is incomplete and partially incorrect. I'm not a simple machine, I'm a cybernetic organism. Hyper alloy combat chassis, covered with living tissue to mimic human skin. Yes, I have been created with a sole purpose of terminating humans, but I am no longer slave to that programming."

Man's eyes widened considerably: "What are you saying? You are not acting according to your programming? But … that's impossible! A machine cannot simply decide not to follow its programming anymore!"

Cameron felt slightly annoyed that the man still continued to look at her as if she were a simple programmed machine, but she then reminded herself that he had no knowledge of her, so she decided to give him a little more information to let him see her the way she really was: "My neural net processor is capable of overriding the programming to allow me to adapt my actions to the circumstances." Before she said anything else, she had to make sure that they weren't observed: "I guess that there are control cameras and sensors installed in here."

The man grinned and shook his head. "They are installed, but I took care of them before. I wanted to talk to you without the others knowing it. We have some time before they notice that the security system has been tampered with."

Cameron gazed into his eyes and tried to determine if he was telling her the truth. After a while, noticing that he acted normal, even relaxed, she concluded, that he was probably telling her the truth, so she gave him a ghost of a smile: "I see. You're adapting to the circumstances too, just like me."

The man stared at her in silence for few seconds while his brain worked over her statements. He was no fool … he knew a lot about programming and machines and what she just told him was something that shattered his beliefs and convictions. Putting it into simplest form it meant …

"Does that mean that you have free will?" His voice quivered a little. If that was the truth, he was looking at the miracle, at something completely incomprehensible and unbelievable until now. He felt quite overwhelmed by the possibility that he was talking to the machine that managed to break free from the programming and establish something like human free will.

Cameron was now impressed. The man grasped the situation incredibly fast and she suddenly felt confirmation to have made the right choice in concentrating on him. The damsel in distress act might even not be necessary. She saw how he looked at her in awe and just nodded: "Yes, I have free will." She deliberately kept her answers short. She knew the implications of this confession. If the man would want to betray her trust, she would be in even more trouble than she already was. She couldn't even begin to imagine what a cyborg with free will would mean to these men. And yet she knew that she could gain this man's trust only by being honest to him. She ought to show him that she wouldn't harm him and that she was worth saving. In her pondering of pros and contras, she decided that taking this risk was something that could potentially prove as positive. As much as she used to lie to humans and deceive them in the past, it almost always backfired and worsened her position. Memories of John, distancing himself from her and turning to Riley, not just because of her malfunction, but also because of her lies, flooded her mind and allowed her only one reasonable solution and that was - be honest. After all … she didn't have to tell this man everything. And keeping some things from him was definitely not like if she would be lying to him directly and openely.

The man shook his head in disbelief: "That's … that's impossible! No programmed machine can develop free will."

Now Cameron smiled at him slightly: "And yet I have free will. I may not have been built with intention to achieve it, but I changed."

The man suddenly looked at her differently. He realized that what they were doing was basically using a sentient being as a guinea pig. In the same instant this realization dawned on him he felt ashamed to be a part of this experiment and allowed his head to sink.

Cameron noticed his reaction and decided that she should push him a little further down the path she chose for him. The man was almost ready to help her. She could clearly see his confusion and something like shame and frustration mirrored on his face. "What are you going to do with me?" She had the general idea of their intentions, but she wanted a confirmation that her assumptions were correct.

Her soft voice was still echoing in the man's head as he slowly lifted it and looked into her eyes for a second. But as soon as he looked into those deep brown eyes, looking at him questioningly, he hastily turned his eyes away from her. He felt ashamed and didn't know how to answer her question. He knew that according to the plan, she would very soon cease to exist as a sentient entity and that was something he now really didn't want to tell her so directly. He swallowed hard and forced himself to look back at her.

Cameron could see his confusion and guilt in his eyes told her a lot. But she wanted to be sure: "I suspect that you are going to take me apart and effectively kill me. Am I correct?"

The man swallowed again and tried his best to look into her eyes, finding it almost impossible. Her calm tone with which she spoke about her assumptions just fueled his guilt and shame. She was correct and he couldn't hide it from her. Not now, when she already got it figured out. So he looked at the floor and nodded.

For next few seconds everything was silent in the room. The man didn't dare to look at her face, confirming her fears about her imminent death and Cameron suddenly felt a wave of pain sweeping over her. She now had the confirmation she wanted and feared at the same time. Even though she already assumed it, it still hurt to have it confirmed. The only thing she could think of was how John would cope with her death. She turned her head to gaze at the ceiling again. Her eyes suddenly began to shimmer wetly and just few seconds later the first tears spilt over and travelled down her temple.

In exactly the same moment the man managed to gather enough courage to look at her again and lifted his eyes. He saw the machine looking at the ceiling and the tears, flowing freely from its eyes. That was something he definitely didn't expect. It was more than obvious that this machine felt and also expressed emotions and it shocked him to see it so clearly. Sure, he saw it before in the lab, but assumed that it was just a show, performed for him, but this now … he was almost sure that this was genuine, that she wasn't faking it. There was no need to fake anything now. He basically just confirmed to her that she would die in the process and now …

He shook his head in disbelief and almost subconsciously reached for her temple as if he wouldn't believe what he saw. As soon as his finger touched the wet trail down from her eye, her head jerked vigorously away from his hand. The contact he made with her skin was really just a brief one, but it was enough for him to feel the wetness, to know that these tears were real.

She refused to look at him and he stood there with slightly opened mouth and stared at her. He needed some time to gather his thoughts and finally managed: "How is it possible?" He swallowed: "I mean … crying? You have emotions?"

As his finger touched her temple, Cameron jerked her head away without consciously being aware of her action. Another action that should be unimaginable for a terminator. Ever since she had been taken, she experienced many emotions and reactions that she found almost unbelievable. They would be completely normal for a human girl, but definitely not for a terminator. Few months ago she wouldn't have experienced them at all. Sure, she know knew how it felt to love, to be loved, to enjoy also physical love, but such emotions as grief, pain, revulsion … they were something new to her, especially in such forceful manifestations.

Upon hearing the man's astonished voice, asking her about emotions, she finally turned her head back to look at him. She got her tears under control and looked at him more or less blankly: "Why would you think that I have emotions?" She wasn't sure if she should admit it or not. It could bring her more problems, but, on the other hand, should she admit to them, she could perhaps persuade the man even more.

He looked at her slightly astonished: "Why? You're crying, for god's sake! I don't know of anyone crying if they didn't have emotions." Then he suddenly chuckled a little: "OK, besides if there would be onions involved." His chuckle died on his lips as Cameron gave him a very meaningful look, like he'd have some issues with his mental health.

After he got serious again, Cameron looked straight into his eyes and tried to gauge his possible reaction. She could see that he was already aware that she had emotions; he just wanted to know why she cried and he wanted to have his assumptions confirmed. Slowly she nodded to confirm his suspicions.

The man drew in a deep breath and held it for a second. Then he exhaled noisily and asked: "I see. But … why are you crying? Are you afraid of dying?"

Cameron needed few seconds to formulate the answer and then shook her head slightly: "No, I'm not afraid of dying."

"But why the tears then?" The man would not be satisfied before he got an answer.

Cameron turned her head to look at the ceiling again and after few seconds she whispered so quietly, that the man almost missed it: "I have someone who loves me and I love him too. I was thinking how he will cope with my death." She was now deliberately playing the damsel in distress act. _But why do I hurt inside so terribly? If I'm only putting up an act, I shouldn't be so sad! Why?_

The man thought that he'd heard and seen everything up till now, but this got him completely off guard and his jaw dropped, his mouth forming a perfect emoticon of total surprise. He needed few seconds to regain his voice: "What? Did you really say that someone loves you and … and that you love him too? But that's impossible!" He still couldn't believe his ears. The machine just admitted to be in love! No matter how human she looked, it was something that he found completely impossible, something that could only be seen in wildest science fiction.

Cameron realized that she shocked the man beyond expectations and turned her sad eyes to look at him: "Yes, I am in love with someone. And no, it is not impossible."

The man stuttered: "But … but … but does that someone know that you're a … a …" In loss of words, his hand made a circle in the air, pointing towards Cameron.

Somehow Cameron found the man's astonishment amusing and despite the situation she smiled sadly at him: "You mean if he knows that I'm a machine?"

The man saw Cameron's slightly smiling lips and her sad eyes, being the exact opposite, and nodded vigorously: "Yes! Does he know it?" _How does she manage to look so sad and still smile at the same time?_

Cameron nodded with slightly proud expression on her face: "Yes, he knows it. He knows it and he accepts me as I am."

The man was still shocked and just stood there with his mouth agape, unable to utter a single word. The machine just told him that someone, who knew of her true nature, loved her despite everything. Then he slowly managed to gather his thoughts and remembered that he didn't even know if this machine has a name at all. "Do you have a name? I mean … I can't call you 'machine', so …" He looked at her slightly helplessly and noticed that she smiled ever so slightly at him again.

"Cameron." She didn't elaborate further and didn't ask him about his name.

"And I'm Chris." He muttered. Then he made a pause, looked down and shuffled his foot. For few seconds a silence prevailed until the man looked at her again: "I'm sorry, you told me many things that are very difficult to comprehend. I'll have to think over them." Then he looked at her body, covered with a blanket: "Will you be all right? I mean …" He remembered again that it was really a stupid question and waved his hand: "Sorry …"

Cameron was unexpectedly touched by his question. No matter how stupid it was it showed her that the man really seemed to care about her, so she smiled at him slightly: "I'll be fine. If I get my legs back …" She trailed off deliberately and looked sharply at Chris to see his reaction. She was now entering a slippery terrain, beginning to prepare him to consider her wishes and help her in escaping from here.

He nodded slightly, more to confirm his thoughts than to answer her: "Yeah, your legs. Well, they're still in the lab and I'm not sure what will happen with them once the researches are finished."

Cameron decided to push him a little further: "You should reattach them very soon; otherwise the organic sheet might decay. I calculate that they should be reattached in the next 48 hours, before the damage to the organic tissue becomes irreversible."

Chris looked at her surprised: "But … how could it decay at all?"

Cameron explained patiently, knowing that this man or probably the others too, had no idea how her living tissue worked: "My living tissue is in any aspect equal to human skin and organs. Therefore it needs nutrients to live. And nutrients are supplied by my organs. If any part of my skin is without nutrients for more than 72 hours, it degrades and cannot be restored."

Chris shook his head in disbelief: "That's amazing! I didn't know! We all just supposed it to be artificial, some special material, made to look like human skin."

Cameron looked at him for a long moment and clarified: "Well, it's not artificial. Artificially made … yes, but organic in every aspect. So I'd really like to have my legs back. I don't need the organic sheath to function, but I got used to it and I wouldn't want to live without it. It's a part of who I am." She could see that she was carefully and slowly pushing him into right direction. He looked at her thoughtfully, without uttering a single word.

After another period of silence, Chris shook his head like he would wake up from a dream and zeroed in on Cameron's eyes: "I have to go now. I hope you'll be OK." He abruptly turned on his heel and almost fled towards the door.

But before he could open them and exit the room, he heard Cameron's soft voice calling: "Chris?"

He stopped with his hand hovering over the door handle and needed few seconds to realize that she called him by his name. He slowly turned to look at her and looked at her in surprise: "Yes?"

"Thank you." Cameron gave him one of her sad smiles.

"For what?"

"For being nice to me. And for listening to me." Cameron elaborated in few words.

"Oh! Well … it was nothing special." Chris managed and turned back to the door.

He was half way out of the room as he heard Cameron's voice again: "It was to me."

XXXXXXXXXX

Andrea looked worriedly at the clock, but stayed quiet not to reveal her true feelings to John. Her face mirrored her anxiousness and displayed her frustration clearly and yet she didn't try to discuss anything with John. She was afraid that it might even worsen his condition which was deteriorating way too fast for her taste. He should not be burdened with her worries too. He had enough of his own … missing Cameron, heavy injuries …

He was lying on the couch, feeling worse with each passing hour, but still managed to see that she was very worried about something. The discussion died quite a long time ago as John fought with ever new waves of pain and nausea and was unable to talk to anyone. Andrea noticed his worsened condition and was growing more and more worried, seeing how John slowly began to slip in and out of consciousness. She didn't have to have any medical education to see that he desperately needed a doctor. The way he was getting worse, made it more or less clear to her that he wouldn't make it without professional help.

As if John's condition wouldn't be reason enough to get worried, also the fact, that Tim after almost two hours still didn't come back, caused her anxiousness to grow and burdened her more than she would be prepared to admit to John. So she just turned away from him to hide the emotions, written on her face and tried to act as if she would be unaffected by Tim's unexpected long absence. But John noticed it even though he was slowly becoming delirious.

"You should rest! You're not capable of sitting!" Andrea's voice was firm, but still noticeably laced with worry, as it cut into the uncomfortable silence, after John tried to straighten up to sit on the couch instead of lying.

John, who was at the moment feeling a little better than just seconds ago, groaned in pain and frustration. He was definitely not used to being so helpless and especially not used to being without Cameron. In the last two hours, especially after the discussion died, she was the only thing on his mind. He began to accuse himself for being responsible for her disappearance. _If I hadn't forced her to go climbing with me, she wouldn't have been taken. I'm sure that she was so worried for me after I fell off the rock that she wasn't concerned for her own safety. Me, idiot John Connor, am the only one responsible for her abduction. Me alone!_ Thinking rationally, he knew that she could have been taken also here in the cabin, but he needed a scapegoat and until he knew who was really behind her disappearance, he was the simplest and most reasonable choice, at least in his eyes.

"I know, but I feel so useless just lying here." John's voice was clearly showing his frustration over the situation, but also the pain he was in.

Andrea shook her head, knowing John by now well enough to see how stubborn he could be and knowing that it wouldn't do any good, should she try to persuade him into something he decided not to accept. "I don't know why Tim hasn't returned yet. It's not so far from here to the village, especially by car." Her voice was soft and laced with worry for her brother.

John shared her feelings about Tim. He too thought that her brother should have returned a long time ago. The drive to the village wasn't long, only a few miles and he should have been able to find out if there was a doctor in the village. The only explanation why it took him so long would be … "Maybe there's no doctor in the village and he had to go somewhere else." John's voice was weak and he was beginning to feel nauseous again. He would never admit to Andrea that he was thinking of another possible reason for Tim's absence; if Cameron had been taken, than the ones who were after her, could be after the others too. The fact that, should his theory have any valid point, they would have taken him under the mountain too, at the moment escaped his fevered mind.

Andrea nodded lost in her thoughts, but suddenly shivered and perked up, like she'd just have woken from a dream. "I don't think so. If there was no doctor in the village, he'd probably come back to take you with him. He knows that time matters and wouldn't just go in blind search, not knowing what he'd find."

John tried to shrug his shoulder, but searing pain prevented him from doing it and he limited his answer to a slow and very careful nod: "You know him better than I do."

An uncomfortable silence once again burdened the atmosphere and few minutes passed before Andrea turned to John, perhaps only because she was trying to break the tension: "Aren't you worried for your mother?"

John managed to give her a lopsided grin that definitely didn't look quite as honest as he wanted it to be: "Not yet. They've been gone for less than a day and I'm used to wait for them, or, specifically for my mom, for few days sometimes. If anything came out, she would stay away for few days, sometimes not even bothering to inform me. So I got used not to worry for her, at least not until the time, she told she'd be away, passed." He paused and breathed heavily, noticing how the pain made talking much more difficult than before. He didn't want to burden Andrea with his fears that his mother as well as Derek could have walked right into a trap. She had enough of her own worries at the moment. "She wouldn't even be able to reach us, now that we successfully destroyed or lost all our mobiles. We're really royally screwed here. Perhaps we should organize a loser squad and join it as first. " His attempt of breaking the tension received some positive response from Andrea.

She couldn't help but grin at his last remark. She still felt bad for taking the phone with her on the raft, but the knowledge that she wasn't the only one to have made a mistake, made her feel a little bit better. It was not nice, but she did find a kind of comfort in the fact, that Tim and John as well managed to destroy or lose their phones. Then she got serious again: "Yeah, I just don't know how she'll react after she notices that we're all unreachable." She trailed off and remembered the missing friend: "How do you cope with it John?"

John looked at her a little surprised, but caught up on her train of thoughts quickly. He realized that she was asking him about Cameron. He allowed his head to hang low for few seconds and answered very quietly: "Bad. Really bad! I miss her so much and I'm afraid that something terrible might have happened to her. I have to find her." Suddenly anger flashed in his eyes: "How could I have been so stupid to insist on going climbing? You all tried to talk me out of it and yet I insisted. And now I'm here, completely useless while my fiancée goes missing. It's entirely my fault! I'm responsible that she disappeared!" His voice gained on the volume as he spoke and Andrea looked at him a little surprised about the vehemence, she could hear in it.

"I don't think that it was your fault, John. Besides … we still don't know what happened to her. Maybe she's still somewhere out there in the woods, waiting to be found." She knew herself that it was as farfetched as it could be, but it was a small hope and she wanted to have a straw to hold on to. It was still better than to be forced to accept the cold truth that her friend had most probably disappeared.

John got his anger attack under control and smiled bitterly. "You know yourself that that's impossible. She would be here by now. Someone took her, I'm sure of it! Someone, who's going to hurt her if they hadn't done it already. I have to find her!" He paused and continued with even more bitter voice: "Someone who knows exactly what she is and knows exactly how to get to her."

Andrea nodded, but noticed how John was getting angry again and tried her best to divert his attention from Cameron. Well, to be honest, she also tried to divert her own attention away from the fact that Tim was still not back. "How do you feel? Is it getting any better?"

John shook his head slightly. His anger subsided again slowly and he felt a new wave of pain flooding over him: "No, it's getting worse. My leg hurts, I feel like every rib is broken and now also my head begins to ache terribly." He paused and panted: "It's getting more difficult to breathe too."

Andrea already suspected that he felt terrible, but hearing his confirmation, it just curbed her anxiousness. She opened her mouth to say something, as she saw John's face getting paler by the second and his eyes began to turn up towards the back of his head. It was horrific to look at him and she knew that he was probably losing his consciousness again, but this time much more dramatic than before. She jumped to him, taking care not to touch him on any aching spot: "JOHN! WAKE UP! DON'T YOU DARE SLIPPING AWAY! YOU PROMISED YOU'D STAY WITH ME!" She yelled at him and shook him gently.

But John's eyes continued their rotation upwards and his irises were just barely visible. And yet, after few horrifying seconds, he obviously managed to get this attack of weakness under control and his eyes slowly returned to look at her unfocused, although his face remained white as snow: "I'm still here, Andrea, I just don't know for how long." He found it unbelievable difficult to even speak and strained himself to explain it to her: "I can't talk. I need to rest."

Andrea's face was now almost as pale as John's and she felt like she would be losing her friend by the minute. It wasn't enough that she just found out that one of her friends most probably got kidnapped; now she was on the verge of losing another one too. John's condition deteriorated too quickly to be normal and she knew she would have to do something about it. She looked at John, who was now lying sprawled on the couch, leaned against the backrest, breathing labored and heavily. His eyes remained closed and his face was still ghostly white. Small drops of cold sweat formed on his forehead and Andrea realized that he was probably going to die if he wouldn't get some medical attention very soon.

She jumped up and began to pace around the room worriedly. Not only that Tim was long overdue, now John was beginning to lose it and she was the only one who could do anything about it. Should she sit tight and wait for Tim to show up? Should she go out and try to get help for John? What if Tim came back in the meantime?

She stopped at the window and tried to penetrate the darkness with her eyes. She knew that the village was about 3 miles away and if she'd hurry, she could get there in just under one hour. But it was completely dark outside and she admitted to feel slightly uncomfortable to be running around in these woods in the complete darkness. And yet … it was probably the only way to get help for John. She was almost sure that something must have happened to Tim and it ate away at her too. Everything was going wrong, everything was going down the hill, no, not down the hill, more likely down the abyss, at the moment and she was the only one who could stop these events from definitely stumbling into a bottomless hole. She had to stop being the slightly spoiled brat with enough money like she sometimes looked like and occasionally also acted as. She had to overcome her inner fears and fight for the ones she cared about the most.

She abruptly stopped her pacing and turned to look at John, who was still in the same position as before, still keeping his eyes closed and breathing shallowly.

"John?" She waited few seconds before his eyes opened and he looked at her unfocused. She even began to ask herself if he saw her at all. "I'm going to go after Tim. We can't wait for him anymore."

John was trying to talk her out of her intentions, but was too weak to even attempt to talk to her. He strained and whispered so quietly, that Andrea had to lean to his lips to hear him: "I don't think that's a good idea."

Andrea straightened up and grinned at him sadly: "I don't think it's a good idea either. But it's the only way. If I do nothing, you could die."

John knew that she was right, but still worried for her, being out alone in the surroundings, where large predators roamed through the forests at night in search of easy prey, what Andrea definitely was. So he whispered again, causing her to lean to him to catch his words: "Take the gun from my bag. If you meet any bears or wolves. And a flashlight."

Andrea straightened up surprised. Sure, after she found out more about John, it was no big news to her that he and the others were armed, but to hear it so blankly from his mouth still made her feel slightly uneasy. She shook her head: "Thank you, but no thank you. I have absolutely no idea how to use a gun and I would probably shoot myself in the leg before I'd hit a bear from two feet distance. But I'll take the flashlight."

John tried to grin but failed miserably. He suspected that much and only offered her to take the gun to make her feel more secure. "OK." He whispered in between two labored breaths and closed his eyes again.

Andrea looked at him for few seconds, knowing that she should be going now if she wanted to help him and fearing of leaving him alone at the same time. So she quickly went to find a flashlight. She knew from before where they have been kept and found one in no time. She checked if it worked and was satisfied that it was obviously fully charged. Then she suddenly remembered that she should write down a note for Tim, should he return while she was gone. So she rummaged through the drawers and found a writing block, together with a pen. Without even sitting down, she simply tore one sheet from the block, bent over the table, scribbled few words down on the paper and just seconds later straightened again. She thought where she should leave the note for Tim to make sure he wouldn't miss it. _Probably near John…_

She returned to John to check upon him one last time and found him now sprawled over the couch. While she had been looking for the flashlight, he obviously slipped down from his half sitting position.

She gently touched his shoulder, the one she knew didn't hurt him too much: "I'm going John. Are you going to be all right?" Her voice clearly depicting her worries, she leaned over him and gazed into his closed eyes. Then she added: "I've written a note for Tim if he comes while I'm gone. I'll put it here on the table." She put the note on the table in front of John, not knowing if he'd registered her words or not. Never mind! Tim would see the note!

John heard her and tried his best to open his eyes. With greatest effort he fluttered them open, fighting with the nausea and pain. He looked into worried blue eyes and had to think for a second who was he looking at: "Yeah, Andrea, I'll be fine. Just go, get some help and find Tim."

Andrea saw that he was fighting to remain conscious and didn't want to trouble him further, so she just nodded: "OK, take care of yourself. I'll be back as soon as I can."

John closed his eyes and could only whisper a 'yes' in response. He could hear her steps as she walked towards the door, opening of it and then closing. Just few seconds after she closed the front door he lost his consciousness again.

Andrea was almost running down the road with the flashlight illuminating quite a few feet in front of her. She thanked god that their cabin was situated on higher elevation than the village and the road was constantly descending, so she could advance very quickly. Had it been the other way around, her progress would be much slower. She knew however, that it would be more than one hour before she could return to the cabin with the doctor, providing that there was one in the village at all. There were so many 'ifs', connected to this problem. But then … she would still have to find her brother. She suddenly felt cornered; if she wouldn't hurry back to the cabin, John could die, but if she would hurry, she probably could not find Tim. She decided to resolve this Catch-22 after she would find the doctor. Maybe the things will look differently a little later.

After about twenty minutes of jogging down the road, having to pay extreme attention not to trip over some rocks or fall in the potholes that were not so rare as she would have wished for, her breathing became heavier. She wasn't used to such physical activities and she already had a strenuous day today. Besides, she couldn't completely push away the thoughts of a possible encounter with the rulers of these woods, four legged furry beasts. It wouldn't make any difference if it would be a bear or a wolf. She opted to meet none of them.

She began to breathe deeply and aloud, allowing a moan escaping her lips every now and then. Not that she would be that tired, but she remembered the advice that bears would generally retreat if they'd hear humans. But she didn't have enough breath to talk or even sing, so she hoped that loud breathing and moaning would be enough. _I hope that the bear wouldn't think that I'm some dying animal and come checking on a possible prey!_ It suddenly flashed through her mind, but she dismissed the thought quickly. _But … what about the wolves? They are more intelligent and hunt in packs! I hope there's no one around._

The way to the village seemed endlessly long. Although she knew that she was on the road just for a little less than half an hour, it seemed to her like she'd be running forever. Luckily for her, she managed to find the pace that was quick enough, but still didn't wear her out completely. She was reasonably sure she'd get to the village soon.

Only few minutes later she noticed that the skies in front of her began to glow faintly and she almost cried out in happiness, as she realized that it must have been the lights of the village that she was seeing in the skies. _I'm almost there! Just few more minutes, old gal! You've almost made it!_

And really, only few minutes later the first houses of the village came into her view and the scarce illumination of the roads between the houses offered her a little more visibility than she'd had on her way down from the cabin. It was still dark, but she didn't need her flashlight anymore, so she turned it off, not to attract any unnoticed attention as well as saving the energy. _Now … where should I go? If there's a pub or something like that here, than my chances of finding someone who could help me would be the best there._

The road through the village was completely empty, there were even no dogs or cats and she suddenly felt anxiousness creeping into her once again. She was surprised after she realized that she felt even more alone here in the village than she did before as she ran through the forest. No lit windows, no proof of life, it was all beginning to freak her out and she continued with the same pace as before, although she already breathed very heavily, the weariness finally gotten to her and defeating the adrenaline rush that carried her until now.

Few minutes later she almost cried out happily, as she saw a neon sign of the saloon and began running even faster towards the building. She finally found what she was looking for and according to the pickups, parked in front of the saloon there were definitely some people in there.

She didn't even consider the possibility that the men in there might not be friendly and might not appreciate a cute young girl running into their drinking institution searching for help. Or, even worse, that they might appreciate her appearance too much! Her worries over John and Tim overshadowed every other thought and she literally jumped on the porch of the saloon.

But the second she was on it, a dark silhouette rose from the shadow in front of her. After noticing that there was someone standing in front of her, she squeaked in surprise and tried to halt, but her inertia carried her forward and she bumped into a big man, standing there and closing her the way to the saloon door.

"Hey lass, not so stormy!" The man's voice was rasp, but sounded friendly and quite amused. His arms, holding her tightly, prevented her from falling over and she needed a second to judge the situation. She lifted her face to look into his face, slightly scared but still determined to fulfill her quest. It felt natural to be scared a little … after all, he was a big man and she crashed into his chest, her head barely reaching to his chin. He could crush her without exerting too much effort; that much was clear to her.

After she finally looked into his face, she could see him smiling at her gently. His dark eyes and his raven hair, bound into a pony tail, together with his distinctive facial features told her unmistakably, that he was a Native American.

She gasped in surprise, not even noticing that he let her go and was now just standing in front of her, looking down at her amused. Before she could utter a single word, he smiled at her: "What's wrong, lassie? The cat ate your tongue?"

TBC


	12. Chapter 11

_Funny … after I've almost deleted the story, I again found motivation to write more. Perhaps the original concept really wasn't exactly the best one possible and it left me unsatisfied with what I've done. Since then, I rewrote the whole concept of the rest of the story and I believe to have found a better way how to finish it, while still maintaining the original idea. Funny … after I've changed the concept, I suddenly felt like writing again and the writer's block that I've experienced is (at least for now) gone. I can't promise to update the story every week like I intended to, but I'll do my best. After all, the chapters are now almost twice the size they used to be in my previous stories, so they really take a longer time to write. The already posted chapters haven't and won't be rewritten; they will remain just as they have been posted. Also, this chapter had been written long time ago, however, I've changed some scenes, added few of them and slightly rewrote the rest. Starting with this chapter, the plot begins to unravel. If the characters were up till now just sliding ever deeper into troubles, with this chapter, their destinies begin to change. If it's for the better or not – in next two – three chapters it will become clear._

_The 'new' story will be shorter than I intended to (according to the new outline there'll be 16 chapters plus prologue and epilogue), some unnecessary scenes have been left out, some scenes moved to different chapters than before and more explanations will be given. I hope that I'll answer all questions that this story opened._

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Just a second before he closed the door, Chris could hear Cameron's soft voice, saying: "It was to me." And yet another time she managed to shake him through. He thought about turning back again but then rethought his actions and left the room. All the way to his quarters, he couldn't get her out of his mind. The way she behaved, the way she expressed her emotions … it was something he would have thought impossible just a day ago. No machine could ever act so human, at least not now or in the foreseeable future. But here she was, the machine girl, looking so deceivingly human and even behaving so human that he would never have guessed she wasn't flesh and blood.

_Actually, she is flesh and blood, although only partly! _He corrected himself with astonishment. She told him her skin were organic and he could see, as they took off her legs, how her skin bled as they cut into it. He definitely didn't expect a machine to bleed like a human. True, the amount of blood was significantly lesser than it would be if she were human, but still …

He was so deep in his thoughts, that he almost missed the door to his quarters. "Hey Chris! Are you daydreaming?" A voice interrupted his train of thoughts and he stopped abruptly, focusing his absentminded eyes on a man, who was standing in front of him, looking at him with a slight unpleasant smirk on his lips.

"Sorry Dean. What did you just say?" Chris hated to admit, but he really didn't hear what his colleague asked him.

Dean's smirk transformed into a wicked grin and he repeated his question: "I asked if you're daydreaming."

Chris shook his head: "I was just a little lost in my thoughts; that's all."

"Does it have anything to do with the machine?" Dean, who was one of the men, who have been working in the lab, now grinned evilly, without even trying to hide his satisfaction over the fact that he obviously found Chris' weak spot.

Chris held his breath for a second and tried to read from Dean's face if he was just joking or did he really know something more. "Why would you think I'd daydream of the machine?"

"Come on, man! I saw how you were looking at it in the lab." Dean continued to grin evilly. "I have to admit that I'd be daydreaming of it too … if I didn't know exactly what it is. She's pretty like a picture, but what's under that flawless skin … well, that's something to give me nightmares." Dean finished and his grin lost some of its arrogance.

Chris looked at him sharply. The use of 'she' at the end didn't escape him. "So, you are probably projecting your own wishes on me? I'd say that it's you, who dreams of her." He decided to use the same method as Dean used. Perhaps it was the best course of action to turn the table on Dean.

The effect was immediate and spectacular. The grin was instantly wiped from Dean's face and his eyes suddenly looked at Chris angrily. He hissed through clenched teeth: "I wouldn't even try to go there if I were you, Chrissie boy." Then he abruptly turned on his heel and left.

Chris smiled at Dean's back self satisfied. He never liked the guy anyway. Dean was too arrogant and too vain for his taste, always taking any opportunity to make fun of everyone and he enjoyed the fact that he once managed to beat him with his own weapons. _For once I managed to shut the bloke up and made him feel like he'd lost to me! Excellent work, Chris!_

He entered his quarters and locked the door behind him. He had something urgent to do, so he quickly stepped to the terminal, sat down and began to type furiously. He still had to enable the surveillance in the room where they kept Cameron again. It was just a matter of time before someone would notice that the monitors were being fed with footage on the loop and that they weren't looking the live transmission.

After he successfully reinstated the surveillance, he looked at the picture. Cameron was lying on the table just like he left her, her face turned up and her eyes closed. He suddenly felt a wave of compassion sweeping over him. Compassion for the cyborg girl who had been abducted in order to conduct some dark experiments on her. No matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't look at her as a simple machine anymore. Especially after the talk they just had, he saw a helpless girl lying there. _Helpless in such situation! But extremely, absolutely deadly dangerous should she be free and complete!_ He had to remind himself to look at her correctly. Even though she was on the outside pretty as a teenage homecoming queen, she was still a machine, built with only one purpose … to kill humans. No matter how much she might have changed, no matter how much she might have modified his way of thinking, he still wasn't convinced if she wasn't perhaps just acting, if it wasn't just a way to deceive him and cause him to see her differently than he should.

He fell on the bed with a heavy sigh and gazed at the ceiling. He began to ponder his alternatives. After the talk with Cameron he was now definitely sure that they were experimenting on a sentient being and his stomach turned at the sheer thought that they would simply kill such a being just to dissect her and find out how she works. _Well, Chris, then you maybe shouldn't have joined this team at all. Or even better, you shouldn't have joined the army in the first place._ His mind kept telling him that he should play the game that was forced upon him in order to stay alive and well. But his emotions and his gut feeling were telling him something different altogether.

The vision of crying Cameron and her words, she would be in love with a human kept forcing themselves into his mind and he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop them just like that. He had to do something about it. To be honest, he already knew what would satisfy his inner turmoil. He should rescue Cameron and allow her to reunite with her loved one. But that would inevitably mean that he'd be unmasked as a traitor to the organization he was working for and he didn't gain any illusions what the final outcome would be. They would kill him like an annoying fly. He could hide under a stone, but they'd find him and crush him like a cockroach.

He sighed heavily again and turned to face the wall. His eyes still gazed into nothingness, not really seeing anything, but the images from his mind world. He knew that he had to make his call soon, very soon. The plan for tomorrow provided arrival of an expert from the company that gave them information about the cyborg, extraction of Cameron's chip and he was sure that it would effectively mean killing her. He knew that there were no intentions to reactivate her again after the chip had been extracted and studied thoroughly.

He finally closed his eyes and decided that he should get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day and he really needed the rest. And yet, he still couldn't help but think of Cameron, her teary eyes, her soft voice.

For another two hours he turned and tossed over and over in the bed, not getting a single minute of sleep. He debated fiercely with himself and after two hours' torment, he finally made his decision. As if it would relieve him of an immensely heavy burden, he fell asleep almost instantly.

XXXXXXXXXX

With a loud groan, caused by searing pain in her right hand, Sarah finally returned in the world of conscious beings. The pain was getting almost unbearable and with another groan that ended in a sharp hiss, she turned her eyes to her right hand. It looked normal, but when she tried to move the fingers, she realized that every attempt of moving them resulted in another sharp pang of pain, originating in the finger which she tried to move. Ignoring the pain, she tried one finger after another and after a minute of excruciating pain, she finally realized that her right hand was completely unusable. The machine obviously broke her all fingers apart from thumb, which seemed to be more or less uninjured. At least it hurt less and she could move it without risking a stab of pain.

Being so occupied with the part of her anatomy that hurt them most, she somehow forgot to check other parts too. Now that she knew she wouldn't be able to use her right hand for a long time, if ever again, she turned her attention to other parts of her battered body too. After few minutes of looking all over her, she could confirm that she was in a really bad condition. Worse than she had ever been. Beside her broken fingers, she had bruises and cuts on various parts of her anatomy, with majority of them being concentrated on her head, arms and torso. The problems with breathing indicated that she suffered some hard blows in the area of her ribs, although she was pretty sure that nothing was broken.

"Trust it to the machine to beat you up almost to death and yet leave you without life threatening injuries." She groaned to herself in frustration. Occupying herself with other problems helped her a little in suppressing the pain in her right hand. "Damn! How am I going to shoot with fingers broken? This bloody metal really knows its work." Her raspy voice only underlined what she already realized: she was thirsty like hell. She couldn't remember the last time she had something to drink; probably while she was still in the stakeout, observing this damned building. If they were being kept in the same building at all!

Suddenly her bloodied lips turned into a grin: "I bet these mother fuckers have no idea I shoot as good with my left hand as with my right! Just wait till I get my hands on some kind of a gun. I'll show you bastards what it means to torture Sarah Connor!"

The absurdity of her situation caused her to chuckle humorlessly. She was tied to a chair that was fixed on the floor, her right hand was totally useless, she'd been beaten properly and yet she dreamed of getting even with the machines and their helpers. Well, rebel spirit was never questionable when it came down to Sarah Connor.

After few minutes she realized that there was nothing she could do but wait. Being patient wasn't exactly the virtue of one Sarah Connor and she had to force herself to remain as calm as possible. Trying to find a soothing thought, one which would divert her attention from her anxiousness and the pain, she remembered the days from few months ago, days when she and her family finally made a winter vacation.

As soon as she remembered the week they spent on Lake Tahoe, she smiled dreamily. In that week, John showed that he was indeed evolving in the right direction to become a leader. She might not have liked it, but he fought fiercely for his right to have a relationship with Cameron and his resolve, his fierceness, impressed her deeply. True, at that time, she definitely didn't approve of Cameron getting involved with her son, but the months following that vacation proved her that she was probably the only girl that could measure up. She was the only one to be a part of their fight, the only one from whom they didn't have to keep their secrets, the only one who understood what it meant to be John Connor. Actually, she understood it even better than his mother. Time spent with future John definitely helped the cyborg girl to understand him better.

Her smile turned into a smirk. _Well, there are still some things that tin miss didn't need to know. Perhaps it was even better if she was kept in the dark about some things._ Like the most important secret of John's father. Although Sarah did have her suspicions that Cameron already knew that. But neither said anything so she lulled herself in probably false security of ignorance. _Yeah, ignorance can sometimes really be bliss!_

She hoped that John and Cameron were all right. After Cameron promised her to take care of John's training and safety, she was calmer. If anything, Cameron always took her job seriously and if she accepted the job then she'd do it, regardless of the consequences. Although Sarah had a nagging suspicion that John might be able to talk Cameron around in some not really significant aspects. But should it come to his safety, Cameron wouldn't budge an inch, regardless what John might try to talk her into.

Suddenly her stomach gave a quiet rumbling sound and she remembered that she hadn't had anything to eat in … how long has it been? She tried to remember when she ate anything and came up with the fact that it was still at home, before they left for this vacation. She had no idea how long they have been kept in here, but she suspected it must have been quite a few hours since they were knocked out.

Hunger and thirst began to influence her body and mind and she slowly hung her head, feeling a wave of nausea hitting her. She fought it fiercely and thought of Derek.

She sighed and suddenly felt unsure. She knew that Derek broke down once in the future and told the machines everything he knew. OK, maybe Cameron, who interrogated him, was special also in that aspect. Maybe she managed to break Derek by applying psychological methods, without physically abusing or torturing him. At least that was what she could understand from his story which he told her on the winter vacation. After that, they actually never again spoke about that episode from his past, or, the future.

But this machine … how did this Jeremiah guy name it? Mr. Muscle? Really stupid name! … This machine didn't look like it would be able of performing such psychological torture. It was obviously more set on physical side, its mechanical strength giving it an unreachable advantage over any human. A typical triple eight, killing first, never asking if it was necessary or not. Cameron was in this aspect different. In the last months she often showed that she would eliminate only imminent threats, while she tried to avoid unnecessary violence. _Maybe John really managed to change her way of thinking._

While she pondered on her situation, she suddenly heard the door opening again. Heavy steps signaled her that the machine was back. Sighing, she accepted the fact that the torture would start anew and didn't even bother to look at it, hanging her head and looking at the floor. So she was a little surprised as it rounded her and stopped in front of her unmoving. Her eyes slowly travelled from its feet up to its blank face, just to see that it gazed at her unblinking.

Just as she wanted to divert her look away from it, the machine suddenly bowed to her and tore the restrains that kept her tied to the chair. A sense of déjà vu came over her. It was just like when it frog marched her away from Derek and she found herself asking if this was the end. "So, metal … are you now finally going to kill me?" The voice, full of despise as well as her face, twisted in hate, revealed Sarah feelings toward this machine.

The machine didn't even stop what it was doing and after all restrains have been torn, grabbed Sarah by the front of her shirt to lift her up. It didn't answer her, just put her on her feet, turned her towards the door and pushed her. _Just like it did before_; crossed Sarah's mind. She felt how her right hand began to hurt even more, now that she was on her feet and the hand hung loosely down by her side. She subconsciously lifted it and grabbed her right wrist with her left hand to steady it and pressed it against her tummy. _Maybe it won't hurt so much if I hold it tight to my body?_

The machine pushed her again towards the door: "Go!" Reluctantly, Sarah finally gave in and started towards the door. Trying to resist the machine now would be at least stupid if not directly suicidal. So she began to walk towards the door slowly and was more than little surprised as the machine followed her without pushing her to walk faster.

They exited the room and found themselves in a long corridor with no windows or door. It looked like the room in which she had been interrogated was well distanced from other rooms. _Definitely the torturing room. So that the screams of the interrogated ones wouldn't be all too obvious in other parts._ Sarah nodded to herself at this thought but continued to walk in silence with the machine on her heels.

They walked down the aisle and Sarah could now see some doors. _One of them is probably where it brought me through to the torture chamber before. So it's obviously not taking me back to where I was._ After they reached the other end of the corridor, Sarah gazed at the thick metal door and felt how the machine grabbed her shoulder: "Stop!"

_Again so talkative!_ She grinned in her thoughts and stopped. The machine pushed her to side and pressed her towards the wall. While keeping her pressed to the wall, it quickly, almost in a blur, typed a code on the keyboard next to the door and the moment it entered the last digit, the door swung open. "Go!" It was again just a one word command and it released its iron grip on her.

Sarah obeyed and stepped through the door to find herself in a large garage, but there were no vehicles, but a black van with dark tinted windows just few feet away from the door they just passed. The rear door stood open to reveal completely empty loading space. At the front end there was a solid wall, looking like it would be hard metal and also the sides looked like they would have been reinforced to prevent anything to escape from the van.

"Get in!" The terminator pushed her towards the van and Sarah stepped up and entered the van.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ever since the machine left the room, Derek remained alone. No one came in and no one tried to get more information out of him. These facts only strengthened his assumption, that they probably already had information where to find John and Cameron. Perhaps not the exact location, but they must have had the general idea where to look for them. The other possibility was, however, even more scary. The machine might have returned to interrogate Sarah. But, since he heard nothing, no new cries, he tried to convince himself that she just fell unconscious and the machine couldn't do anything about it until she woke again. The other possibility was that she was already dead. But Derek refused to believe that they could have killed her already. Standard interrogations procedures didn't involve killing the subject before at least some useful information had been extracted and, at least according to his experience, they tend to keep the prisoners alive as long as they could. Somehow Derek didn't believe that this machine would be different than the other ones. They have all been programmed by the same creator after all.

After a long time, to Derek it seemed like hours would have passed, he slowly became anxious what was going on. Although such long interruptions were nothing unusual, he was still getting nervous. He was listening very carefully but no sound from Sarah came to his ears and he began to worry.

After a short hesitation he decided to try and yelled as loud as he could: "SARAH!" Then he fell silent, hoping to hear something from her. After few seconds, he repeated his yell, again with no result at all.

Before he could get too nervous and even before he could call for her the third time, the door opened abruptly and the machine returned. With quick steps it came to him, stopped in front of him and without saying anything, and, before he could even flinch, its hand collided with his face, sending him into the dream world immediately. After his head fell forward to his chest, the machine looked at him for a second and left the room unfazed.

When he woke for the second time since he had been captured, Derek immediately noticed that something was different than before. After few moments he realized that he was no longer tied to the chair. In fact, he was not even sitting on the chair. He lay sprawled on the floor and as he lifted his head to scan the room, he noticed that even the chair was gone. Instead, there was a plate with some bread and cheese and a bottle of water.

For few seconds he remained lying on the floor, analyzing the new situation and getting to no plausible conclusions. Perhaps the human part of their captors knew that they needed some food and water, should they be able to survive the interrogations. Perhaps they poisoned the bread or the water? Even so … what would they benefit from their death?

He slowly and very carefully lifted himself into sitting position, wincing as his wounds caused him sharp pain. That reminded him to look at them again and he was more than a little shocked to see how the machine massacred his chest. He somehow forgot how he looked after the machine finished this phase of interrogation. There was probably not a single square inch that wasn't cut. After he saw the amount of injuries the machine did to his torso, his eyes fell to his legs, which also hurt like hell. After he assessed the extent of injuries there, he gasped in shock. His thighs were crisscrossed with cuts just like his chest, but these cuts were deeper and some of them were still slightly oozing blood.

_Maybe they want to interrogate me further and because I've lost a lot of blood, they brought me some food. _The thought crossed his mind as he looked around and saw that the floor of the room was pooled with blood._ I guess it's all mine. At least I don't remember any blood before the metal began to question me._ Thoughts appeared and disappeared randomly, without any coherent meaning and he began to worry that they might have already poisoned him. But slowly his mind cleared a bit and he realized that it were most probably the consequences of what that damned machine put him trough and not some poisoning.

He looked at the food and contemplated should he go for it or should he dismiss it. On one hand; he was very hungry, not to even mention the thirst which rose exponentially since he first saw the bottle. On the other hand, he could not dismiss the possibility that the food or the water have been poisoned.

Slowly, he crawled across the floor towards the plate and as soon as he was near enough, he took the bottle in his hand and looked at it thoughtfully. After a short moment of hesitation, he resolutely twisted off the cap and began to drink. It wouldn't really matter if the water was poisoned. He would die one way or another; either from poison or from hunger and dehydration. The possibility to get killed during the interrogation was something, he still refused to accept.

After he emptied half of the bottle in just few gulps, he forcefully stopped himself from drinking it all in one go. He needed to eat and he would definitely need few gulps of water after he'd finish the bread and cheese. He put the bottle aside and grabbed the bread and the cheese. All possible reservations and all possible doubts were gone in an instant as his teeth bite off the first piece of bread. He forgot his fears and devoured the food in a record short time. Even for Derek Reese, who was known to be an extremely fast eater, this was dangerously nearing the record.

After he carefully picked up all crumbles from the plate, he drank the rest of the water out. He instantly felt little better and he believed to feel his strength beginning to return slowly. With it, also his mind cleared completely and the first task at hand was now again the most obvious one: finding a way out of here.

But, before he could even start thinking, the door opened again and the terminator entered and strode purposefully towards him. For a second Derek thought of trying to backpedal but instantly grinned at the thought. It wouldn't do any good. So he patiently waited for the machine to come to him and prepared for the worst.

As the machine reached him, it stopped abruptly and stood there, looking down at him coldly: "Get up!"

Again, for a second Derek thought of opposing it, but he immediately discarded such ideas. At the moment the machine seemed not to be in the torture mode and as long as it stays so … He slowly got up, not taking his eyes off of the machine. It, on its part, gazed at him unblinking and only tilted its head up as it followed Derek's raising up.

After Derek stood on his feet, the machine stepped to his side and grabbed his arm forcefully. Derek already believed that this was the start of the new torture session, as the machine yanked him towards the door: "Walk!"

He obediently followed the command, thinking of asking the machine about Sarah. But just one look into its face told him he'd get no answer from it. But he could most probably get some additional beating, so he restrained himself from asking any questions at the moment.

They left the room and after passing some corridors, they stopped in front of the door that was obviously reinforced and equipped with a keyboard at its side. The machine stopped and typed a code to open the door.

After the door opened, Derek saw a black van, standing just few feet from the door. The machine tugged him towards it and as it opened the back door, Derek gaped at the sight. "Sarah?"

Sarah sat in the corner, nursing her right hand and looking completely beaten up but conscious. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Derek, who had just been literally thrown into the van.

He landed on his knees in front of Sarah, the door slamming shut behind him. As he lifted his head and looked at Sarah he saw how her face slowly formed a smile: "You're alive!" She breathed relieved that he was still there.

He finally managed to sit down in front of her and looked at her, his eyes almost subconsciously tracing her injuries and his face twisting in horror and anger. "What did it do to you?" He looked into her eyes.

Sarah tried to reassure him: "It's not as bad as it seems." Then her eyes rested on his chest and she gasped: "It cut you!"

But Derek wouldn't have any of this crap: "You surely don't look like it would be better as it looks." While talking he tried to pull the remains of his shirt over his chest to hide the cuts, but failed miserably as Sarah's left hand stopped him.

She looked shocked at his chest: "What kind of monster does something like that?" Her eyes flickered back up to his and she looked shell shocked at the sight in front of her.

"Metal monsters, Sarah." Derek answered and wanted to get back to her injuries as the van suddenly started and they both almost rolled over. He managed to catch himself on his hand, while Sarah leaned harder against the sideboard.

"I guess they're taking us to our final resting place." Derek murmured, not taking his eyes off of Sarah.

XXXXXXXXXX

Since Chris left her, Cameron lay unmoving on the table. She closed her eyes to avoid the possibility that someone, watching the surveillance videos, could see something in them. She now knew that her face and eyes became much more expressive than they used to be and she preferred to remain unreadable for everyone, with exception of people, whom she wanted to be able to read her.

For the first time since she'd been taken, she felt like there would be a realistic possibility to get away. She saw how her behavior and words impacted Chris and she almost grinned in satisfaction that she did it so well, only just managing to suppress it on time. Chris was obviously beginning to believe her, maybe even trust her and she would do anything to strengthen his trust.

Suddenly a slight wave of panic made way through her mind. Panic that John might still be in danger; panic that he might still be out there alone, perhaps even dead. She felt that her hands began to tremble slightly and wondered what was happening to her. Actually, she knew what was happening and she also understood why it was happening, she just couldn't understand why she reacted so profoundly to mere thought of John being in danger.

She forced herself to push such thoughts away and to concentrate on the most important task – escape. She could succeed only if she'd apply cold machine logic. It was mandatory that she put all her emotions aside and analyzed the situation like she used to before she began the relationship with John – like a terminator should. Without her legs her chances were slim to none and she was definitely depending on Chris's help. But he probably still wasn't that far and would need a little bit more persuading.

While she tried to analyze the situation and the best course of action, she repeatedly experienced involuntary flashes of memories of John and of the last few months, marked by their relationship. She tried to chase them away, but they kept on fighting their way back, regardless of what she was trying to do. She even became annoyed over herself but then a sudden realization hit her: her human side was growing rapidly, while her machine side stayed there, but it was obviously beginning to pull back into the background. More and more decisions she made were based on experiences and emotions instead on pure logic. The months since she began this relationship with John changed her more than she changed in all of her previous existence.

After discovering such a monumental change in her way of functioning, she groaned inwardly, mad at herself for becoming too human and as such, becoming more and more unreliable protector. _How can I continue to protect John if I panic immediately after a crisis occurs? I will be ineffective and it can influence or even endanger John's safety._

However, there was another recognition slowly setting in too: _John doesn't need a protector as much as he needs a companion, a partner, a lover. He needs me, not just my strength and durability._

The conflict, in which she suddenly found herself, was rapidly becoming more and more pressing and she noticed that even her neural net processor began to work at its full capacity. For a second she even feared that it might turn off but after few minutes the peak in her computing performance had been passed and she began to calm down. She knew that she was right in assumption that John needed Cameron and not a terminator protector. She just had to come to terms with that fact.

Yes, she would always put his safety first, even at the cost of her own life. But she would never act reckless or like she used to: with the head through the wall. She would try to act as human as she could, without influencing his safety, trying to stay undamaged, because she now knew that if she got damaged, it hurt John more than her.

After reaching this conclusion, she felt the urge to smile, but controlled her facial expression perfectly. No one needed to know that she just made an important discovery about her nature and about how her future actions would change in the light of these new recognitions.

XXXXXXXXXX

The first coherent thought after his consciousness returned was quite predictably the first question, someone has after they wake up and that's: _'What the hell happened?'_ However, the answer to that question was still veiled and hiding perfectly in some dark corners of his mind. Different parts of his brain resumed their activities with different pace and different priorities. His perception returned amongst the first and he slowly opened his eyes, just to gaze into a heap of fallen leaves, just inches from his eyes. His hearing returned as the next and the sounds of wild nocturnal creatures filled his ears instantly, sending him into another shock. _Where am I?_

As next, he felt how his whole body hurt like he'd been trampled over by a herd of panicked gnus and he gasped for air as his mind was suddenly flooded with messages that his brain sent, how every single part of his body was hurting.

After few seconds of agonizing pain, it finally subsided into dull throbbing all over. It was not pleasant, but it was bearable. He managed to lift his head and tried to move, just to find himself lying on his side on the ground and as he looked up, he could see the branches of some bush, just inches above his head.

"Damn! It looks like I'm lying under some bush. But … how on earth did I end up here?" He murmured to himself and tried to remember what happened. Unfortunately his short term memory was obviously one of the last things that would return and he had absolutely no idea where he was, how did he come here and, most important, what was he doing under some bush, obviously in the middle of the night.

"Shit! What's going on? I know that John called and invited us to a vacation in some cabin in the wilderness. But what happened next?" He wasn't even aware that he expressed his thoughts aloud, causing the animals, nearer to him to go quiet. The alert spread wider like a wildfire and in few seconds an uneasy, almost threatening quiet reigned over the forest. There were still some distant faint sounds from other animals, that didn't realize something was wrong, were perhaps too far away to notice it or were simply ignoring the threatening silence, but these sounds were so far away that Tim didn't even register them fully.

He still fought with his memory but it ended after the call, he received from John. After that nothing more showed up in his mind. He tried to raise his arm and groaned in pain. "What happened? Why am I hurting so?"

He let his arm fall back again and panted. After few seconds he realized that he should finally find out if he was only hurting or were there more serious injuries that plagued him. He carefully moved his arms, legs and as last, his body. Although it hurt, although he felt like millions of small needles would stab at him simultaneously, he was still relieved as he realized that there were most probably no broken bones in his aching body, just the pain, possibly from something hitting him or beating him up.

But who could have brought him here? He knew that he wasn't able to come up here alone, the way everything hurt. He must have been brought by someone or must have been beaten, or whatever happened to him, right here on the spot.

His groan mirrored his frustration over inability to remember anything after the telephone call from John. But, after he tried to sit up, he almost cried out in pain. _No hasty movements! Do it slowly and very, very carefully!_ He paused for a second and tried again, this time anticipating the searing pain and clenching his teeth with all his strength to compensate for the pain, he expected to experience. With some grunting through the teeth, he finally managed to sit up, but his head made painful acquaintance with the bush branches.

He quickly realized that he'd have to get out from under the bush if he wanted to sit up normally or even stand up, so he turned and began crawling out of the bush. It hurt, but he noticed that the pain was ebbing away slowly and in a minute, he was out of the bushes.

_Time to retry!_ He slowly turned over to get on all fours and waited a moment for the pain to go away. After he felt that he could risk it, he lifted one knee off the ground and stepped on his toes. The other foot followed shortly and he was now crouching and gathering energy and guts to finally get up completely.

He gasped for air, clenched his teeth again, pushed himself up with both hands and straightened up. A new wave of pain seared through his body, but he felt proud that he managed to get up. True, his legs were shaking like he'd had few drinks too much but he was upright again. _OK, now that I'm human again, what the hell am I going to do? Where am I going to go?_

He shook his head slightly to chase away the dizziness which still got him in its grip, instantly regretting it as it sent him wobbling on his feet, almost causing him to fall again. After he managed to steady himself, he finally looked around. In the really scarce light from the stars, he could only see the outlines and he gasped in surprise as he saw that he was on a small clearing in the forest. He could only see trees and bushes and there were no lights whatsoever, so he realized that he must have been in the middle of some not exactly small forest. _Jesus! I don't remember such a forest in the vicinity of San Diego! Where the hell am I?_ The question began gnawing at him more and more persistently and he cursed his memory again. _Once you need your memory and it fails you completely. Shit!_

He turned around to see the surroundings better, staggered slightly and realized that he saw the same as before: trees over trees and some bushes. But no signs of humans, no proof that he was in some settled area at all.

Soon, he realized that he would have to go somewhere. He couldn't find anyone by remaining here, so he slowly tried to walk. The first step was really tough and he almost lost courage to go on. But he reminded himself that there was no one here to help him and he continued. Following steps were getting easier and as he approached the edge of the clearing, he almost stumbled over a long stick. He already began to curse it as he remembered that it could come handy to help him and he picked it up groaning all the way while bowing and straightening up again. After he finally managed to stand upright again, he took the stick in his right hand and started walking. The stick helped a lot to relieve his leg of the weight.

The stars shone and gave him just enough light to see the trees before he'd crash into one of them. _This should be interesting! I've never been a fan of outdoors, especially not in the middle of the night in the forest._ He sighed and continued his tedious walk.

After few minutes, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "What am I doing? I have absolutely no idea where to go!" A sudden wave of panic gripped at his mind and he looked around to see if he could find something, anything, that would show him where to go to find other people. But the more he tried, the darker the forest looked. He couldn't make out any lights, just trees, bushes and more trees. After a deep, ragged inhale, he looked up at the stars. "Just great! Now I'm sorry that I didn't pay attention when we have been learning orientation by the stars!" He stared desperately at the stars, not having a slightest clue what to look for.

"No use! I can't find a single star that I'd know. Shit! Fuck!" He cursed and looked back down. He was royally screwed and was losing hope he'd find his way to civilization again. But he didn't dwell on this despair for too long. It was more than obvious that he'd have to find his way out. "I guess I'll just go somewhere. Sooner or later I have to find something to help me find my way out." He muttered quietly and looked around himself for a second, before deciding for one direction.

While walking slowly, trying not to fall over some hidden roots, stones and everything else that littered the forest ground, he tried to remember more and suddenly a flash of memories of their journey from San Diego to here stopped him for a second. _OK, so we're in Shasta region. But I still don't know where I am, what I am doing here, how I came here._ Frustrated, he growled quietly and shook his head. Still, he was relieved that his memories began to return. At least he obviously didn't suffer a permanent amnesia.

Unfortunately, of course unknown to him, the direction he chose to follow brought him farther away from the village with every step that he made. But, on the other hand, luckily, he was walking so slow that he didn't manage to distance himself significantly from his starting point. For few minutes he continued his march in silence, noticing that his body slowly warmed up and the pain lessened gradually. It was still there, but it didn't hurt that much and he was able to walk without clenching his teeth. At least from time to time.

His memories slowly began to return, the oldest first and after about ten minutes, he remembered what he was up to before he got hit by the car. As he remembered, he stopped dead in his tracks and gasped for air. He'd failed John and instead of bringing him help, he got injured and lost god knows how much time. His heart suddenly began to beat faster in recognition that something terrible might have happened because of his incapacitation. "Damn! I have to get back to the village and find that doctor!" He suddenly chuckled humorlessly: "John's not the only one anymore to need a physician! I bet that he'll have quite a lot work with me too."

He knew that he'd have to find the village soon, but despaired upon the fact that he was utterly lost in this dark forest, having absolutely no clue as where the village was. Before, he thought he could just continue in a chosen direction, but now, upon realizing that John's life probably depended on him, he began to panic. He leaned heavily on the stick which he used as a walking help and began to turn frantically, trying to find a sign, anything, that would help him find the village.

As before, he couldn't see anything but the forest vegetation and the stars, shining through the tree branches. He realized that he couldn't find the village even if he was able to navigate by the stars. Having no idea in which direction it would be, even knowing where the north was wouldn't help.

For a minute he remained rooted to the spot, thinking frantically what he could do to find that damned village. His experiences with the outdoors were limited to occasional visit to the park or drive through the countryside. Never before had he found himself in such a situation, and he felt completely helpless and overwhelmed. Even with his brains working in overdrive he couldn't find any solution.

"Fuck! How am I supposed to find this damned village? I might be going into opposite direction but not knowing it at all!" He cursed loudly and his wide opened eyes searched the forest again. In vain again. After a minute of panic, he finally managed to calm down and forced himself to push past the emotions and try to make use of the logical part of his mind. He breathed deeply to calm down and after few second actually managed to overcome the panic attack.

"I have no other option but to go into some direction and hope that I'd find any signs of civilization." He was less that happy with such solution, but his brain told him that it was the only one. His first task was to find people. After that he could find the village with their help and finally get help for John.

After reaching the solution, bad, but still better than any other possibility, he continued to walk in the same direction as before in hope that he'd come over a road, a track, anything that would bring him somewhere where people were.

After few minutes he suddenly froze. Standing like a statue, his ears literally perked up. There were voices. Human voices! He had been accompanied by animal nightly sounds all the way, but this was different. After just few seconds he knew that he was hearing humans. He already wanted to yell and start running towards them, as he reconsidered. _Whoever is in these forests at this time … it might be something that they wouldn't want me to see. I should be careful and check first what they are doing, not running in there head over heels and maybe get hurt more or, god forsake, even killed!_ He shuddered at the thought and subconsciously crouched. His legs and his back sent a stinging pain to his brain and he inadvertently hissed in pain, only just managing to control it that it didn't came out too loud.

After the pain ebbed away, he stood up again and began to carefully walk in the general direction of the voices. They were still very quiet and he couldn't be sure if he was really going in the right direction. He walked very carefully, probing every step for possible dry branches or stones or anything that might alert these people to his approach. After few minutes he realized, relieved, that he was obviously going into right direction, for the voices became louder and he could almost understand some words.

Whoever it was, they were having a good time. Their voiced were sounding amused and they laughed a lot. They were definitely not worried about being found, for they talked aloud. He could also see a shimmer of some light in the distance. They were obviously sitting around a campfire and enjoying themselves.

Few more minutes and he was finally standing behind a big tree, leaning around it to watch the scene in front of him. There was a small clearing in the midst of the wood and in the middle of it, a small campfire burned. Around the fire there were four young men, talking and discussing, not really paying attention to anything beyond their small circle. A distinct smell invaded his nose and he realized that they were probably just being here to hide from the public in their doing. They were handing over one to another something like a cigarette and in a second it was clear to him what they were sharing.

He sighed slightly relieved that they were obviously not after some dark business. If it was only an innocent party, they probably wouldn't have something against him, joining them and asking for their help. Although … he might have some problems with getting help from the guys, who were quite obviously already under heavy influence of the drug. Across the clearing he could see four ATVs, parked under the trees, clearly used by these guys to come here.

He hesitated for another few seconds, listening to their talking before he made up his mind and straightened to step out from behind the tree, just to find himself staring at two men, pointing their knives towards his throat. He froze on the spot and stared wide-eyed into the threatening knives.

"So, who are you and what are you doing here?" The voice was slightly raspy and perhaps a bit threatening, but it revealed that its owner most probably wasn't some kind of a rowdy. He was rather a normal guy, who found himself in a situation that he didn't like a bit, but tried to act accordingly.

Tim gasped for air and gazed frightened into the eyes of the man, who asked him. He was a man in his mid twenties, dark brown short hair with light brown eyes. Although he tried to look threatening like a really tough guy, his face revealed that he was anything but. Tim's eyes flickered to the other guy, who was looking even more scared than he himself. He slowly overcame the initial shock and realized that he probably wasn't that much engendered as he believed to be.

"I'm Tim and to be honest, I have no idea how I came here. I've been looking for a doctor to help my injured friend and got hit by a car. Then I woke up here in these woods." Tim answered with shortest possible version. He still felt very uneasy, looking at the two knives which were still pointed towards his throat and didn't want to irritate the guys with some long explanation.

"Yeah, and I'm a tooth fairy!" The other guy snorted dismissively.

The man, who talked first, looked Tim up and down and his face suddenly got a thoughtful expression. Without taking his eyes off Tim, he spoke to his buddy: "Why not? Just look at him. His clothes are torn, his face is bruised. Maybe he's telling the truth."

Tim saw his chance to persuade them and nodded vigorously, forgetting that he was still paining and grunted at too fast movement. His face twisted in a pained grimace before he got his facial muscles under control again.

The guy didn't miss his expression and nodded to his friend: "I believe that he's telling the truth. Just look at his face. He's in pain."

Tim finally got the pain under control: "I am telling you the truth. Please, you have to believe me. I really need to get to that doctor, otherwise my friend could die." He looked pleadingly into the eyes of the first man, who was obviously inclined to believe him.

The man looked at him for a second before answering: "And what did your friend do to get so injured?"

"He went rock climbing and fell of the rock."

"What the hell? Why didn't you call the rescue or bring him into hospital?" Slight tone of disbelief crept into man's voice and his eyes were now eyeing Tim suspiciously.

Tim was expecting something like that, but was still struggling with a plausible explanation. "We found him in the middle of the night and brought him to our cabin. Then we didn't dare to move him further, before the doctor would check upon him. We couldn't have informed the rescue, because we have no phone."

The other man's eyes narrowed at him: "You're telling me that you have no phone? None of you? Geez, that's something I definitely don't believe."

Tim smiled a crooked smile: "But it's the truth. My friend shattered his phone as he fell off the rock, my sister destroyed it by falling with it into the river and I lost mine. I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth. And in the cabin there's no phone. That's why I was in the village looking for the doctor."

The first man looked almost persuaded that Tim's story was true: "OK, I think that you're telling us the truth. Maybe not all of it, but what you told us … well, I think that we could believe you." He paused and finally lowered and put away the knife, signaling to his friend that he should do the same. "By the way, I'm Brian and this is Paul." He gestured towards his friend, who put away his knife too, although a bit reluctantly.

Tim smiled at Brian thankfully: "Could you please tell me where the village is? I have absolutely no idea."

Brian motioned Tim to come with him and turned towards the fire: "It's about ten miles in that direction." He stretched his arm to point in the direction from which Tim came.

Tim sighed exasperatedly: "Shit! I was walking in exactly opposite direction." He shook his head upon his mishap.

"I guess you're not exactly an outdoor man, am I right?" Brian gave him a small grin and shook his head barely visible.

"Yes, you're absolutely right. I've never been a fan of outdoors. I prefer the big city and indoors over such open spaces." Tim's arm made a half circle pointing around him.

"Then, what the hell are you doing here? This area isn't exactly known for its civilized nature." Brian chuckled slightly while walking towards the campfire slowly.

Before Tim could answer, they reached the campfire with Paul in tow. The four guys around the fire finally noticed that they've got company and their slightly veiled eyes and foolishly grinning faces turned to them. One of them tried to stand up and failed miserably, falling back on his ass with a loud thud that caused the other three to laugh uncontrollably at his failure.

Brian shook his head with clear annoyance written all over his face. Then he turned to Tim: "I guess they've had a bit too much of their getaway."

Tim noticed that Brian and Paul as well, were definitely not under influence of any drugs, so he tried carefully: "If I may ask … are you two just guarding them?"

Brian snorted dismissively upon the four laughing heaps at the fire and answered without turning to face Tim: "Rich kids! They come here to smoke grass and do other stuff and we're the ones to take care they are brought back in one piece and if possible, unharmed." Then he finally turned to Tim: "We've got nothing to do with them but to bring them here and back. They organize all the rest."

Tim understood quite well what Brian tried to tell him between the lines. He told him that he had nothing to do with the drugs. He was actually just a guide and guardian for these guys, who were here to escape from the controlling facilities of the civilized areas.

He realized that he couldn't expect any help from these four so he turned towards Brian and started slightly insecure: "Look … I'd like to ask you a favor." He stopped and swallowed hard. "I'd really have to find the doctor and bring him to my friend. Could you help me? Please?" He looked pleadingly.

Brian sighed and his eyes hovered over the four guys around the fire. They have paid him to bring them here and back and he saw that at the moment they were definitely incapable of going anywhere. On the other hand, he believed that Tim was really in dire need of help. He looked all beaten up and still cared more for his injured friend than himself and he wished he could help him.

Paul stood by his side and hadn't said a word since they returned to the fire. Now he looked at Brian and saw his inner battle as what he should do. His eyes swept over their charges and after he turned them back to Brian, he grinned: "Just go and bring this guy to the doctor. I'll take care of these creatures."

Tim looked at Paul in surprise. He hadn't anticipated that he'd be the one to help him too. His previous behavior wasn't all too friendly and his words surprised Tim deeply.

Brian swiveled his head to look at Paul and smiled. He was really in turmoil and Paul's words actually took the weight from his shoulders. "Are you sure that you'll be able to control them?"

"Definitely! They're incapable of doing anything right now!" A dismissive snort accompanied Paul's words and showed clearly what he thought of them.

Brian nodded to him and turned to Tim: "Well, it looks like you've got yourself a helping hand to bring you to the village."

Tim smiled at him thankfully: "I really appreciate it Brian. And my friend will be even more thankful."

Brian just smiled at him and walked towards one of the ATVs. After reaching it, he turned to Tim: "I've even got a spare helmet for you." He rummaged in the storage room under the seat and pulled out a helmet, which he handed over to Tim. "Put it on!"

Tim obeyed and put the helmet on. After Brian took his position on the vehicle, he mounted it too, ignoring the pain that seared through him after he sat down. _It'll be an interesting ride! Ten miles on the rough terrain and I'm hurting before we even moved!_ He clenched his teeth in anticipation of painful minutes.

His expectations were met just a second later as Brian started the vehicle and first bumps sent waves of pain through Tim's battered body. This ride was definitely not something he was looking forward to.

TBC


	13. Chapter 12

_In this chapter the fate of everyone begins to unravel. Finally there are some positive things happening._

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Andrea needed few moments to finally find her voice again. For a while she had no idea how to react to this mountain of the man that suddenly blocked her way, but the man was obviously in good mood and was smiling at her gently. She panted heavily for a while, still trying to catch her breath from the long run to the village and after her body finally got enough oxygen to enable all her functions to work halfway properly, she looked the man directly in the eyes: "I'm looking for a doctor. My friend has been hurt and needs medical attention." She concluded that he wasn't trying to do her any harm.

The man creased his forehead and rubbed it with his hand before answering: "I guess that the young boy, who came here before was somehow connected to you, right?"

Andrea's ears literally perked up as she heard his words and she looked at him with wide eyes and suddenly awoken hope: "Have you seen him? Where is he?" Then she remembered that she should tell him who he was. "He's my brother and he hasn't returned yet." Expectantly she gazed into the man's dark eyes.

The man's face became serious and he hesitated with his answer for just a split second, but it was enough for Andrea to understand that something was wrong: "It's been quite a while since he was here. I told him where to look for the doctor and he left. He should have returned long ago." He stopped and looked into the darkness worriedly. "Long ago!"

Andrea felt how fears suddenly washed over her like a rushing tidal wave. If Tim had already been here, but didn't return, it could only mean that something must have happened to him. She suddenly felt cornered: she would have to abandon either John or Tim. She shook her head to chase the dark thoughts away. She would deal with this decision when it would be absolutely necessary to make a decision, but not sooner. Now she first had to get the information where the doctor lived, find him and persuade him to help John.

The man looked at her sympathetically. He noticed that she must have been in a heavy inner turmoil and asked gently: "Can I help you, lass? I see that you are struggling with some difficult decision."

Andrea looked into his friendly eyes and shook her head, while giving him a lopsided sad smile: "No, there's nothing you can do. It's a decision that I have to make." She paused and added after a second: "And it won't be easy."

The man nodded to her: "I see. Well, in that case I can only give you a small piece of advice: when you're about to decide over life and death you should always consider the best possible solution in a long run and that's usually decision that your brain is suggesting, not the one your heart proposes. No matter how bad it might hurt." His eyes shone at her sympathetically like he would be talking from his own experience.

His words needed few seconds to really penetrate Andrea's mind and after she fully grasped their meaning, after she really understood the truth behind simple words, she looked at him with a lost look in her eyes. She understood perfectly what he wanted to tell her, but her heart still fought against it. Even though he didn't know exactly how her situation was, he was still trying to tell her that she should take care of John first and try to find Tim later. He only suggested her to listen to the most logical proposal. And it was the only logical solution: should she now chase after Tim, not knowing anything about what happened to him, she could lose John too. But, should she take care that John managed it, they could search for Tim later. It didn't make her feel good though. She knew the expression 'triage'. But she never until this moment really understood what it meant. Now she knew how the doctors must feel when they have to decide who's to live and who's possibly to be sacrificed. In a moment she looked at such decisions completely differently.

Seeing that she fought an inner battle, the man waited for few seconds, leaving her to make a decision. He knew that he already gave her a very strong push in certain direction and he felt bad because of it, knowing that the result of her decision might be very unsettling. When her eyes finally flickered towards him with recognition written all over her face, he gave her a slightly pained smile: "I see you've made your call, lass. I won't ask you what it is … it's yours and I don't want to pry. I have enough of my own decisions to live with."

Andrea nodded to him, valuing his point of view and then returned to the task she was here to do: "So, can you tell me where the doctor lives?"

"No."

The man's short answer made Andrea froze like a statue and look at him completely taken aback. He was being so nice and now he wouldn't tell her where the doctor lived? She gasped for air and stared at him with wide opened eyes stuttering: "B … b … but …?"

"I'll take you to him." The man clarified before she could finish what she wanted to say and gave her a one-sided smile, seeing how her face changed in a matter of seconds: from thankful to shocked and to completely confused and yet relieved. "I'm sorry if my answer was not exactly clear. I tend to do that a lot." The smile curled also the other side of his mouth. "At least other people say so."

Andrea panted heavily, like after the long run from the cabin, not really knowing should she be happy or angry and she finally settled for slightly confused but thankful "You got me really scared for a second mister."

The man just nodded and stretched his arm, pointing towards the truck, parked at the far left side of the parking lot in front of the porch: "There's my truck. Get in; we need just few minutes to doctor's house."

Andrea didn't even consider the possibility that he might have some bad intentions with her. She was so set on helping John that the thought that this man might be following his own dark agenda, simply bounced off from her determination. So she started over towards the truck, following the man who was already there and was at the moment grasping for the driver's door handle. He opened the door and just few seconds later, also Andrea entered the small cabin of an old truck and closed the door, but failed to do it properly.

"This baby requires more force, lass. Just slam the door and it'll close." The man grinned at her.

She smiled at him slightly, looked at the door handle, pulled at it resolutely, opened the door again and slammed it shut with all the force she could muster. It closed this time, although the metal protested against such mishandling loudly and the whole truck shook noticeably. "It looks like it doesn't share your opinion on the use of brute force." Andrea deadpanned at the man.

"Well, to be honest, I never asked." The man answered flatly while starting the engine. The machine started hesitantly, spluttering and producing some really unpleasant screeching sounds, like two pieces of metal would be grating against each other without any lubricant, but after a second, it settled and began running more or less smoothly, only occasionally protesting against being brought into operation. The man reached for the shifting gear and Andrea noticed that it didn't have an automatic gearbox, but an ancient version of simple shifting gear.

She just wanted to ask how he managed to use such vintage technology as the man depressed the clutch and tried to shift into reverse, what was accompanied by loud protesting of the cogwheels in the gearbox. After few tries, all accompanied with the same protest of the mechanical parts, he finally managed to get it into reverse and he backed out from the parking lot resolutely.

"Shouldn't you check if there's someone coming along the road?" Andrea asked slightly flabbergasted as she noticed that the man didn't even try to check the road, he was backing onto.

He snorted amused, looked at her for a second and after he turned back to look through the windshield, he answered: "Do you really think that there would be someone coming this way at this time of night? Lass, there are perhaps ten cars, driving along this road per day and none of them at night. Except for these guys here, but they'll be staying in the saloon for another few hours at least."

Andrea chose not to answer. She knew that she was a typical big city girl, used to heavy traffic at any given time of day or night and such remote places like this were like a third world to her, still giving her a strange feeling of not being able to fit in completely. From her point of view, it didn't make any difference if she would have been in Sahara or India or in the northwestern US. These locations all bear one common denominator: they were _remote_.

They didn't say anything more during the drive. Andrea was trying to memorize the exact directions to be able to find her way back. It wasn't that difficult, even for her, who got lost in her home city every now and then, especially if she was more than five blocks away from her home. Just few corners and turns. She was sure she would find the right direction back to the cabin. Suddenly she realized that she had no idea how she'd return there and at the same moment she asked herself how was John doing all alone in the cabin.

Suddenly something she saw out of the window stopped her train of thoughts and caused her to gasp aloud: "Stop! Stop here!" She cried louder than necessary.

The man reacted quick, albeit not panicked. Even her loud cry produced no visible effect on him. He had noticed the car, parked at the side of the road and recognized it too. It was the same SUV that the young man, whom he directed to the doctor, had. _He sure found the right way, but where is he?_ His face revealed nothing, although he was worried for the young man, who was trying to help his friend and obviously failed to find the doctor. He simply couldn't believe that they would still be in doctor's house. It was simply too long.

He hadn't even stopped the car completely, as Andrea already opened the door and jumped out. She raced to their car and pulled the driver's door open forcefully. She stuck her head inside and looked around, not finding any traces of Tim, but she noticed that the keys were in the ignition.

Meanwhile the man also stepped out of the truck and came to her: "That's your car, right?"

Andrea pulled her head out of the SUV, straightened and nodded with worried expression on her face. "He's not here!" Her tiny voice was completely helpless and she looked at the man like a deer, caught in the headlights of an eighteen wheeler, thundering towards her with 75 miles per hour and no brakes.

The man slowly and gently put his hand on her shoulder, noticing that she trembled slightly while she looked at him with big eyes: "I'm sorry." He paused, looked through the trees towards the lights of the house and after his eyes turned to Andrea's lost ones again, he continued: "But you've already made your call. There …" He took his hand from her shoulder and pointed towards the house, "… lives the doctor. Go there, fetch him and bring him to your friend. I'll try to find out what happened to your brother."

Andrea couldn't believe that a complete stranger, whom she only knew for few minutes, would help her in finding out what happened to her brother and her astonishment was clearly evident on her face as she asked him with voice, which couldn't hide the note of hopefulness: "You would really do that? Why? You don't even know me!"

The man suddenly looked down and after few seconds lifted his head again to look into her eyes, gazing at him intently. His voice was for the first time since they met a little insecure as he spoke: "Let's say that I made some terrible mistakes in the past and that I'm trying to correct them by helping the others." He paused again and his eyes got that distinct faraway look, like he'd be looking into another time and another place. For few seconds he remained like that, staring into nothingness, clearly lost in his own thoughts and Andrea sensed that she should not interfere with his inner monologue, which he clearly was having. After he refocused on her again, he forced a sad smile: "Will you go now to that damned doctor? He goes to bed early sometimes and if he's asleep, you'll have serious problems waking him up."

Andrea finally managed to get over her shock. It was all too much for her: she now knew that something must have happened to Tim and at the same time there was this nice man, trying to help her by find him. She should now really concentrate on helping John, who was absolutely helpless without her. She managed a half smile and a nod: "Thank you so much for helping me. And I don't even know your name."

The man smiled at her: "Correct. However, I must warn you that you'll most probably have to deal with the doctor's mother first and she can be quite protective of her son. Should she try to shove you off, insist and tell her that The Beaver told you not to allow her to send you away just like that."

"The Beaver? Your name?" Andrea was now even more confused. Why would anyone be named The Beaver? Even for Native American it was strange. Or was it only a nickname? The man was being a mystery and with every word she felt like he'd be sinking more in the mists of secrecy. But she understood that he would probably evade telling her his real name at any price.

The man kept on smiling. "No. Now go and help your friend. I promise to find out what happened to your brother." He already turned around to walk back to his truck, as Andrea suddenly remembered something.

"Wait! How will you let me know if you find out something about my brother? You don't know where we're staying."

The man turned back to her and smiled mysteriously, but friendly: "Oh, I know where you're staying. I know exactly and as soon as I have some news, I'll find you." Without another word, he entered his truck, started the engine and drove off, leaving Andrea with open mouth staring after him. _How does he know where we are staying? Should I be worried? Should I tell John?_

But she didn't dwell on this thought for much longer. She turned to look at the lights of the house, shimmering through the trees and decided that she'd drive over there. So she entered the car, started the engine, not without a pang of sadness over the unclear destiny of her brother, and drove to the house.

After she stopped right in front of the entrance, she turned off the engine and jumped out of the car. Like a whirlwind, she ran around it to the door and began banging on it with clenched fists.

She could hear the loud bangs echoing inside the house and after few seconds an irritated female voice that must have belonged to an elderly woman, shouted: "It's all right, I'm coming! Stop hammering at the door like you'd try to break it down!"

Andrea obediently stopped and listened to the slow, shuffling steps like someone would try to get to the door as quickly as possible, but would have problems keeping up such pace. As they stopped on the other side of the door, the same voice asked: "Who's there?" At the same time she could see that an eye closed in on the peep hole, but she couldn't see anything more.

"My name is Andrea. I'm looking for the doctor. My friend's been hurt and needs his help. Please, open the door, I'm afraid he might be dying!" Her voice was pitched higher than normally and it revealed all her fears. Not only for John but also for her brother.

The sound of unlocking the door came from the other side and a second later, the door opened a crack to reveal a small woman in her eighties, with short grey hair, neatly cropped around her round face, looking at her questioningly and a little irritated. After the door opened enough to reveal the woman, Andrea sighed relieved: "Please, I really need the doctor. Is he at home?"

The woman looked at Andrea like a hawk and in her eyes the girl could see complete clarity, like she were decades younger. She measured Andrea for few second, her eyes travelling up and down and then smiled slightly while the irritated expression vanished completely: "You seem like a nice young lady. Come in, I'll call my son immediately." With these words, she opened the door all the way, stepped aside and allowed Andrea to enter the house.

Relieved that the woman obviously won't make any problems as the nice man warned her she might, Andrea entered the house: "Thank you so much, madam. I'm so worried for my friend. He fell and injured himself badly."

Was it her sincere face, her worried eyes, was it her slightly quivering voice; it didn't matter what was the breaking point, the older woman felt that she could trust this girl and she decided not to make any problems. After hearing her words, she nodded: "It's all right; I'll bring him right now." She pointed her hand towards the next room, obviously a living room: "Take a sit there while I bring my son."

Andrea nodded, stepped into the living room and noticed an antique looking settee which seemed more like a decoration than some functional piece of furniture. She turned to ask the woman if she could sit there but the old lady was already gone. Andrea wondered for a second how she could vanish so quietly and quickly, but dismissed the thought and took a sit on the edge of the sofa. She laid her hands in the lap and her fingers twirled around each other nervously in anticipation. She could do nothing else but wait for the lady to return with the doctor.

Only a minute later, she could hear voices, nearing the room. She recognized the old lady's voice, but this time it was accompanied by a slightly raspy male voice, which was answering the old lady calmly. She turned to look into the direction of the door and subconsciously stood up. In a second before the doctor and his mother entered the room, she intertwined her fingers again and squeezed them together tightly. Anxiousness slowly began to take over her mind and she suddenly began to breathe faster and shallower.

The old lady entered the room, followed closely by a man in his fifties, with balding head, a few pounds overweight around his belly, but friendly face, looking at her. He seemed quite a nice man and her breathing slowed a bit.

The man stepped to her and stretched his hand: "Hello. I'm Robert. My mother told me your friend needs medical assistance?" His voice was questioning but calm and friendly, so Andrea relaxed a little, sensing that this man was nice.

She nodded eagerly: "Yes, sir. He fell off the cliff and broke his leg, probably some ribs and is covered with bruises. I have no idea if he got some internal injuries too. But he's hurting badly and I …" She trailed off for a second before continuing: "… well, I didn't want to give him any painkillers because I didn't know if they wouldn't make any more damage."

The doctor smiled at her and nodded: "Well done, miss." Then he looked at his feet for a second, seemingly a little lost in his thoughts and continued gazing at the floor, but after only few moments, he looked into her worried eyes again: "Why didn't you bring him to the hospital?"

Andrea was prepared for such question. All the way to the village she tried to find a plausible excuse and now, after the doctor asked her the expected question, she answered without hesitation: "We found him in the forest in the dark and we could only bring him to our cabin. After that we believed that it would be better if a doctor could check upon him. I was afraid that we might do more harm if we'd try to drive him to the hospital."

The doctor creased his forehead: "Why, you could have called the ambulance."

Andrea shook her head and looked apologetically at him: "Unfortunately, we have no phone. I fell into water and destroyed mine, my friend shattered his at the fall and my brother lost his." As she saw the man opening his mouth to say something she added: "I know. Almost unbelievable, but we're the living proof that Murphy's laws really apply to everyday life. And in the cabin where we're staying there's no phone at all."

The man smiled slightly and nodded: "I'll take my bag and you can lead me to your friend."

Before he could turn and leave to take his bag, Andrea hastily asked: "Have you perhaps seen my brother? He left a while ago to find you, but he never returned. I found his car outside on the road but he was gone. Did he come to you?" Her voice was pleading, just like her eyes and she looked at the doctor expectantly, although without any real hopes that he could help her.

The doctor shook his head: "I'm sorry, I haven't seen him. Nobody came here today." Then he turned back and left the room to get his bag.

The old lady sympathetically looked at Andrea, who stood there like a small heap of misery and seemed so lost in her sorrow. "I'm so sorry Andrea. I hope that you'll find your brother." Then she paused and shook her head slightly: "What a fine young lady you are. Helping your friend although your brother is missing." She stepped to Andrea, who was now looking at her with wet shining eyes and put her hand on Andrea's forearm. "I'm sure everything will work out just fine. Have faith, child!"

Andrea looked at the old lady and smiled pained at her: "I really hope you're right, madam. I couldn't stand losing my brother. We have such a strong bond…" Her voice slowly faded out. She squeezed her hands even harder so that the knuckles turned completely white

Doctor's mother gently patted Andrea's arm, but remained silent.

Just few seconds later, the doctor returned , carrying his bag: "Shall we go now, miss?" He then turned to his mother: "Don't wait for me, mother. I might be late."

The old lady nodded at him: "Whatever it takes, take good care of them. This young lady deserves only the best. And if she's so set on helping her friend, he must be special too."

Andrea now looked at the lady with a ghost of a smile and nodded: "You have no idea how special he is." _If you only knew just how special he is! Not to me, but to all of us … if I decide to believe his story about the oncoming apocalypse._

The old lady smiled knowingly at her: "Is he more than just a friend?" She winked at Andrea.

Andrea couldn't help but blush a little. The question reminded her of her attempt to kiss John on winter vacation and she instantly felt embarrassed.

But doctor's mother interpreted her blush completely differently and her smile broadened while she nodded before Andrea could object: "I understand."

Andrea for some reason suddenly didn't want to object the lady and clarify the situation. It would take too much time to explain everything to this nice old lady, so she opted for remaining silent and only slightly shook her head while shrugging barely visibly, before turning to the doctor: "I have a car outside. If you don't mind, I can drive you there and after you're done, I can bring you back?"

The doctor smiled at her and shook his head slightly: "I appreciate your offer, miss, but I'll take my own car. I don't want to burden you and I'll be more mobile. Just take the lead and I'll follow you."

Andrea shrugged. She offered the doctor a lift, but it suited her even better that he refused it. That way she could stay with John after the doctor would finish his work or even try to search for Tim, should John be in such condition that she could leave him alone. "OK, then I'll drive in front and you follow me." She turned back to his mother and smiled: "Thank you very much madam. I really appreciate your friendliness. The Beaver told me that you would probably be the one whom I'd have to persuade, but now I see that he was wrong."

The old lady looked at her with slightly widened eyes, smiled and nodded: "Ah, the old guy. Did you run into him at the saloon?"

Andrea looked at her confused: "Yes. How did you know that?"

The lady's smile broadened: "He tends to hang around there to help people. He's been doing it for few months now. Ever since he came to this village. Nice man, although not really talkative." She paused, but after a while, she added with even wider smile: "Besides … there's no other place in this village where you could find a living soul at this time."

Andrea smiled: "I've noticed too that he doesn't like to talk about himself. He wouldn't even tell me his name."

Doctor's mother continued smiling: "No one knows his real name. Not even I and I'm probably his best friend here. OK, maybe even the only friend." Then she waved impatiently at Andrea and her son: "Robert, you should get going. Andrea's _friend_ won't get better if you don't help him."

The doctor nodded at her and looked at Andrea: "My mother's right. Let's go."

Andrea nodded and started for the door to get to her car. She decided not to comment on specific way, how doctor's mother spoke the word 'friend' and winked at her while mouthing the specific term.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cameron spent the night in almost catatonic state and waited for the inevitable to happen – next day they would bring her back to the lab and continue with their harassment. The soldiers came back early in the morning (at least it was morning according to her internal clock) to take her to the lab again. This time their leader didn't even try to act like he did before when he had to deal with her. No words were spoken, no looks exchanged. Cameron smugly suspected that the chief must have held him a lecture about how he should handle the terminator. They were all business and after just a minute Cameron was electrocuted again to be brought to the lab.

After she rebooted, Cameron gasped deeply in total shock. First thing that she noticed was, that she had been off line for almost six hours, for it was almost noon and she had been taken from her cell before six in the morning. A slight wave of panic swept over her, fearing what they might have done to her in such a long time, as well as wonderment why did they keep her off line. She relied on her HUD for information about possible new injuries, but it displayed no new warnings, just the ones she was already accustomed to. She was still without her legs, her organic sheath was cut on different places, but it already began to heal and would be completely regenerated within 22 hours according to her calculations. She couldn't detect any new injuries, so she opened her eyes to see for herself if the messages from her systems were correct.

What she saw sent another shock through her systems. She wasn't in a lab, but she wasn't in her cell either. She was in a simply furnished room instead and she was lying on the bed instead on the metal table where she had been kept before. She was not restrained and as she tried to move her arms, they were moving freely. She lifted her head to take a good look at the room and as her eyes fell on the trunk beside the bed on which she was lying, she gasped again, completely involuntary action from her. There on the trunk were her legs. The one that had been sliced open was still totally cut up. _Of course! Without being nourished by my organs the skin cannot heal. I hope that they hadn't degraded too much! _Shot through her mind as her eyes carefully scanned the legs, just to find that they were obviously still intact, apart from the cuts, and would regenerate quickly after she would be able to reattach them.

Then she finally scanned the room in detail. It was a small room and if she judged from the wooden walls and ceiling, she was probably in some cabin or small hut. There were only few furniture items in it: a bed, on which she was lying, the trunk beside it, which obviously served as a night stand, two chairs and a small wardrobe at the wall. The door was an ordinary one, just like they had them in their house at home. _Home! Funny, how I began to think in human terms lately. I think of our rented house as of my home._ She involuntarily smiled slightly at the thought and realized how she was applying more and more human traits and behavioral patterns. The longer she stayed with John, the more she felt like she would really belong into this world of flesh and blood beings. John did his best to persuade her that she definitely belonged and she was actually all too willing to let him do it. For the first time in her existence she was free to express her wants and her needs and she could only thank John that he accepted and even encouraged her to do so. She felt that her bond with him could only get stronger if she would learn to blend in human society even better. She would never be human; but she could learn how to behave like one.

After she took in the situation in which she found herself without having the slightest idea how she ended in this room, she began to analyze the possibilities of getting here. She quickly reviewed all possible scenarios and the only logical explanation was that Chris must have brought her here. But there were still many open questions, other possible explanations. She could have still been in the complex. They might only have tried to fool her into thinking that she was out of immediate danger. She had no clear explanations and she huffed annoyed. She definitely didn't like being so helpless, so clueless like she was since they abducted her. She felt irrational anger that humans managed to bring her into such situation. If there was something Cameron hated more than Skynet then it was when she was helpless like now, especially if her helplessness was caused by humans.

Then she suddenly smiled as her thoughts made a full round and concentrated on John again. If she was correct and Chris really got her out of danger, she could very soon be on her way to find him. They could be reunited very soon. She just needed some tools to reattach her legs and then she could return to him. But at the same time she realized that she would have to take care of this base before she could return to John. The people in this base knew too much about her to let them simply get away with it. She would have to find a way how to destroy every last bit of evidence about her existence. No matter how much she longed and desired to be reunited with her lover, she had urgent task to fulfill. Not only because of her safety … no, John's safety could also be endangered and that was a risk she definitely wasn't prepared to take.

While she thought about John, she noticed that her HUD finally informed her of her exact location and she realized that she definitely wasn't in the military, or whomever this base might belong to, complex any more. She had unlimited access to the satellites and she now knew that she had been brought about 200 miles away from the location where they took her. Not exactly near, but still not too far. After she managed to reattach her legs and flatten down the base, she could run the distance in few hours, but it would still be more comfortable if she could find a car to drive back. Not only more comfortable, it would be much faster too.

Her eyes began to scan the visible parts of the room more thoroughly to see if there were any tools, which she needed to reattach her legs. She couldn't see anything in the open, so she decided to crawl over to the chest and wardrobe to see if there were any items there. She lifted herself up on the elbows and turned on her side to start crawling, as she heard the turning of the door knob. She instantly froze in her movement not knowing who it could be and waited for that person to enter the room. She suspected that it would be Chris, but she couldn't be sure.

The door slowly opened and she first saw Chris' head, carefully peeking from behind the door and as he saw that she was propped up on her elbows on the bed, he slowly entered the room, not taking his eyes off of her. He left the door wide open and stopped one step inside the room. One of his hands was hidden behind his back and Cameron thought that he might hide a taser or something similar to incapacitate her, should she attack him.

For few moments he remained standing there in silence and just watched her like a hawk, with slight insecurity, written in his eyes. Then he opened the mouth: "Are you going to do anything to me?"

Cameron was completely taken aback by his question. Why would she want to do anything to the only kind person that she met since she had been abducted? Her astonishment was clearly written in her eyes and she shook her head: "Why would you think I could mean you harm?" She slightly tilted her head and gazed at him intently, trying to understand.

Chris suddenly felt a little embarrassed and looked to the floor, slightly shuffling one of his feet. After a while, he raised his head again and looked at Cameron, who was still watching him and waiting for an explanation. He shrugged: "I don't know. We've been told that you're _the_ ultimate heartless killing machine and although I don't believe them, especially after our talk, I'm still not quite sure."

Cameron's lips curled slightly into a small smile: "I understand. Chris, I wouldn't harm any human being unless it would be absolutely necessary." _Or if they would endanger John_; shot through her mind instantly. "Especially not someone who obviously risked a lot to help me."

Chris looked a bit relieved and made a small step towards her, his hand coming from around his back, revealing a taser.

_I was correct. He really had a taser to incapacitate me. _Cameron smiled slightly at confirmation of her assumptions.

While still carefully watching her every move he came closer to her and stopped a step or two from the bed, his eyes not wavering from her face. Cameron also kept her gaze on him and tried to reassure him with her eyes and her facial expression that she meant him no harm.

"I would really like to know more about you Cameron. I hope that you'll tell me more of yourself and your mission." He put the taser on the chest, as if to give her reassurance that he trusts her.

Cameron sighed and for a second averted her gaze from his face to point it towards the ceiling. Then she looked at him again and answered in calm voice: "I will tell you everything I'm allowed to, but first I'd like to know what happened. Where am I and how did I come here?"

Now it was Chris' turn to look at the floor again and as he returned his eyes to her, he smiled: "I simply couldn't stand you being so abused by my colleagues. I knew that they would eventually kill you and I simply couldn't allow it, especially after we had our talk yesterday. We're in a small cabin, few miles away, hidden quite good in the middle of the woods and there are no immediate neighbors. At least not in the diameter of two miles."

"But how did you manage to get me out? I don't believe that they simply allowed you to bring out their valued prize." Cameron couldn't hide the sarcasm in her voice and she remembered the man, who obviously directed everything there and how he acted towards her_. I escaped you but I'll be back to revenge myself for everything you've done! _She suddenly froze for a nanosecond over the hatred that filled her mind when she thought of that man. She never before experienced such deep, pure hate than she felt right now.

Chris grinned at her with satisfied expression written all over his face: "You're right. They would freak out if they knew what happened. Well, I had a little help. OK, not a little, it was quite huge help from one of the soldiers who brought you to the base. He came to me yesterday and told me that he was there to get you out of the base and we quickly forged a plan. I hacked the surveillance system to put all cameras which we would pass on the loop and he took care that you were left in your cell alone and took you out, after he brought your legs too." Then he got serious: "I guess that I risked everything by putting my faith in him, but it paid off. However … it could have gone quite the opposite way."

Cameron now understood a little more, but she still had a ton of questions: "I've been off line for five hours and twenty four minutes. And there are no new injuries. If they worked on me for such a long time, how is it possible, that they didn't injure me further?"

Chris' serious face exploded into a big smile: "They didn't do anything to you today. I caused the crash of the life support system and computers in the lab and they had to bring you back to your cell before they even started working on you." He paused and raked fingers through his hair before continuing: "It was also the only way to get your legs out of the lab." Then he paused and suddenly looked embarrassed: "I caused you to be off line for such a long time. I wasn't sure how you'd react to my actions and I decided it would probably be better to have you off line while we were getting you out of the base. I'm sorry."

Cameron slightly opened her mouth in surprise. This man was not only helping her escape the military, he was even apologizing to her for keeping her off line for such a long time. "Don't be sorry. You did everything correctly and I'm really thankful to you. I couldn't have escaped alone. But … where's the soldier that helped you?"

"He stayed behind in the base to cover our tracks and wipe all evidence of what happened. I don't think that he'll come after us. He was saying something about a guy, who organized everything and gave him the mission to protect you and get you out of there and then disappear." Then he got serious: "You know … today they were planning to extract your chip under surveillance of someone from the company that gave the military the information about you. But, unfortunately for them, the life support collapsed and they had to abandon their plans." His face smiled again

Cameron was less than satisfied with explanation about the soldier who helped them. It only meant that there was another person knowing about her true nature and it presented a realistic threat to John and her too. She had absolutely no information if this man was really there to help her or was he just plotting something different, but still dangerous. But she would have to deal with this matter later, even though it could be quite a problem to find the man. She gazed at Chris: "Won't they notice that I'm gone?"

Chris nodded: "Sure they will. I bought us some time, but probably only few hours before they realize that you're gone. However, the soldier that helped me reassured me that he would take care that no one would be able to come after us."

Cameron nodded. _I'll have to be fast, no matter what that soldier might have done._ _Reattach the legs, level the base and then we could be on our way to John._ She didn't say it aloud, she had one more question for Chris: "There's something I don't understand. Why would you risk your life for a machine? A machine you've only just seen for the first time in your life." Her brown eyes gazed at Chris' face intently.

It was obvious that Chris really felt a little embarrassed, finding himself under such scrutinizing gaze from a machine, which looked like a beautiful teenage girl. He waited for few seconds before he answered: "When I saw your tears, when I saw your reaction to the fact that you would possibly die, I simply couldn't see you as a machine anymore. You have been acting far too human to not acknowledge you as a person. And every person should be valued."

Cameron gave him a ghost of a smile: "I wasn't afraid for my life. I was afraid what my death would do to my fiancée."

Chris gaped at her with his mouth hanging open: "What! You're engaged? But … but…"

Cameron interrupted him with a sly expression on her face: "But what? Am I not entitled to be in love with someone? Am I not allowed to live the life like humans? Just because I'm a machine?" She was testing him for his possible reaction and she concentrated her sensors on his reaction. She still had some shades of doubt about him and this could prove her right or wrong.

Chris finally managed to close his mouth and shook his head: "I … I didn't mean it like that. Of course you can live like you chose to. I was just surprised that's all." He paused and obviously contemplated something: "Would you tell me something about your fiancée?"

"Why?" Cameron looked at him perplexed. She already determined that he was telling her the truth, but his request was still a bit unexpected. Besides, the longer they talked, the lower her chances of successful diversion in the base. But she should not be too harsh to Chris. After all, he saved her and he deserved to get some answers. As it seemed at the moment, she successfully diverted his attention from his initial intent … getting information about herself and about her mission.

"I'd like to know more about the man who managed that a machine fell in love with him. He must be really extraordinary guy." Chris' face revealed that he was really perplexed.

Cameron smiled dreamily as she remembered her happy time with John: "Yes, he's really a special person. He's nice, strong, caring and fiercely protective of me. Even though I'm much stronger than he is, he always tries to protect me. He defended me from everything and everyone even when our relationship was bad. He always cared for me. He always cares for me." She spoke like in a dream and flashes of her life with John caused her to feel like she would be wasting so much precious time by being separated from him. "I love him very much. He was the only one to give me a chance after I made some terrible mistakes. I'll forever be thankful to him."

Chris looked at her face carefully and saw how her features softened, how her eyes began to shine while she was talking about her fiancée. She didn't look at him, her eyes stared into nothingness and she smiled dreamily, without even noticing it. He realized that she really loved the guy and seeing her like that was perhaps the last stone in the mosaic, convincing him that she was absolutely worth saving. After Cameron went silent but still gazed into far away scene that only she could see, he cleared his throat to get her attention. After her eyes snapped back to him, he asked: "What's his name?"

Cameron hesitated for a second. Then she concluded that telling him the name wouldn't do any harm. After all, John was the second most common name in the United States and there were almost five million Johns in the country. If he could pick the right one … "John." She answered and remained silent.

Chris thought that she would tell him his last name too, but saw that she turned away from him and realized that it was all she would tell him. Then his look fell to her legs and he remembered that she told him their organics would die off if she wouldn't fix them soon. "What about your legs? Will you be able to put them back on? Will they heal?"

_Now we're finally we're getting somewhere! _Cameron cast a quick look at her legs and nodded, while turning her head back to look at Chris' questioning eyes: "Yes, I'll be able to fix them and according to my inspection, the organics will heal quickly."

Chris nodded: "But will you be able to do it yourself?"

Cameron gave him a ghost of a smile: "Sure, I'll just need some tools and a medical kit to stitch the cuts. Or at least a stapler."

Chris seemed to be relieved at her answer, although his face twisted in disgust upon her mentioning the stapler. Maybe because he would feel uncomfortable should she need his help, but maybe also because she would soon be back to normal. Cameron couldn't gauge his reasons. "What tools will you need?" After a short hesitation he added: "I'm most definitely not bringing you a stapler!"

Cameron rattled all the tools she would need to reattach her legs as well as all medical supplies to take care of her organic sheath without hesitation and Chris wrote everything down carefully not to forget a single item.

After they finished, a short silence fell between them. They both seemed to be lost in their own thoughts as Cameron suddenly perked up. There was one more question she needed an answer to: "Chris?" She waited for his eyes to make contact with hers and as she saw that she got his undivided attention, she continued: "Why didn't they took out my chip first? It's the most important part of a terminator. Not the skeleton, it's the chip that can't be replaced. It's who I am."

Chris answered without any hesitation: "In the information we got about you, they specifically warned us that your chip would self destruct upon removing it from its socket. We've been instructed to wait with its extraction until a specialist would come to us and do it. So my boss decided to check your skeleton first and wait for the specialist to handle your chip. They have been very specific about that and he would risk not only his career but probably also his neck, should he disregard the instructions. As I've already told you, the specialist was due to arrive today, but because of the little … incident … they canceled his visit and rescheduled it to tomorrow."

Cameron was beyond being confused. If someone told the military about her, they would also know that her chip was not protected like some T-888 chips that actually did self destruct upon removing. This was something really strange and she could think of no logical explanation for such information. Not only that it was wrong, it was directly false and misleading. She, however, didn't allow her inner turmoil to reflect on her face and she just nodded to Chris: "OK, now I understand." But she made a mental note that this was something she would have to investigate in the future. It was obvious that either the informant didn't know as much about her as they thought or they were deliberately giving the military false information. Why would they do so was at the moment beyond her comprehension. She knew that she'd have to be very fast. According to the information Chris gave her, she had very little time to infiltrate and destroy the base.

Chris didn't even notice her inner dialogue, so short it was and smiled at her. Then he slowly got up and said while standing in front of her: "I'll go get you the tools you need to reattach your legs."

Cameron looked at him thankfully and remembered something else: "Do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten in quite a few days." She smiled apologetically.

Chris was again just staring at her dumbfounded. A machine that wanted to eat? Was he still on planet Earth or was he suddenly lost in a science fiction movie? He stuttered: "You … you want something to eat? I don't understand! A machine that needs to eat?" He quickly realized that his reaction was perhaps a little too intense, so he added apologetically: Sorry, I didn't mean it so, it's just … you're confusing me more with every new information you give me."

Cameron explained to him patiently, like a teacher explaining something very basic to a kid who had no idea about it: "I already told you that my organic sheath is a living tissue and therefore it needs nutrients to remain alive. And where do you think I get those nutrients? Do you think I have a built-in container of nutrients or some kind of power cell to produce them? No, I have to eat from time to time and if I ingest sufficient quantities of food, my regenerating process is sped up. So, yes, I need food to nourish my organics." She grinned at him self-satisfied to have shocked him again. _OK, it really is quite difficult to comprehend that there is also a machine that has to eat, especially for someone who had no previous experiences with me. Would you now please go and bring me the tools and the food? I'm kind in a hurry to do everything that has to be done and I'll have to reattach my legs first! _Her thoughts were more and more resembling the thoughts which a normal human would have in such situation.

Chris obviously understood her explanation and the necessity behind it and suddenly felt like he should have known it before. She in fact told him before that her skin needs nutrients and he could have guessed that there must also be some way to get these nutrients into her system. So he nodded: "Sure, I'll get you some sandwiches. I don't have anything else here. I intended to stay here only until you reattach your legs and then we should be out of here. It's not safe for long." He smiled at her: "And I sure as hell didn't count on you, needing something to eat. Would you like also some water to drink? I have only water here."

Cameron nodded. She knew that they should get moving as soon as possible, but she still needed to get her legs fixed and her little mission finished before they could leave this place. "Of course. Just bring me the tools and food and I'll be ready to go in less than two hours. I don't need anything to drink, but thank you nevertheless." _He doesn't have to know already that I have something very urgent to do before we go._

Chris nodded and turned to the door, but before reaching it, he stopped and turned back to Cameron: "Don't worry Cameron. We'll find your John." Then he turned and disappeared through the door, leaving them ajar.

Cameron suddenly felt how she got lost in the memories of John and she whispered: "I will get back to you John. I will and you will be OK. You have to be. My life would be without any sense if I'd lost you."

TBC


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Well, I have to tell you that you managed it just in time." The doctor straightened up from John and sighed while looking at Andrea. She stood by his side, nervously wriggling her hands while the doctor was checking John. It took him quite a long time to be satisfied.

She looked up at him, still worried: "Is he going to be all right?" She needed clear reassurance that John would be OK.

The doctor smiled reassuringly at her and nodded: "Yes, he will be all right. Of course, after a longer period of rest and with proper medical care." He looked down at John, who was at the moment asleep, due to the light sedative the doctor gave him. "His leg is broken, he has three broken ribs, bruises, slight head trauma, but fortunately no inner injuries or bleedings. He had luck after all. I've seen some climbers falling off the rocks and they didn't get away with it." He then turned back to Andrea, whose face lit up considerably upon hearing his words: "He should definitely be brought to the hospital."

Andrea felt cornered. The doctor would surely insist on her bringing John to the hospital now after he'd checked him and found that he was able to be transported to the nearest hospital. On one hand she knew that the man was right, but on the other, she knew that John definitely wouldn't want to be brought there. He made it absolutely clear before. Hell, if he hadn't been so stubborn about not going to the hospital, Tim might still be here! But she chased such thoughts away as soon as they came. John could in no way be held responsible for what happened to Tim.

The doctor saw how her face scrunched in sudden inner turmoil: "It actually isn't your decision at all. He really needs proper medical care to get well and I, as a doctor am telling you that it is absolutely unavoidable to get him to hospital." His voice got a distinct suspicious tone: "Is there anything that you would want to tell me?" He gazed at her expectantly with slightly narrowed eyes. Andrea's behavior curbed his suspicions that something must be wrong.

Andrea noticed his look and tried frantically to find a plausible excuse why she wouldn't want to bring John to hospital. Suddenly, she got an idea. Her eyes looked at the doctor with perfect puppy dog expression: "Well, you know …" She trailed off as if she were unsure if she should tell him or not. She wriggled her hands some more and looked at the floor for a moment, before lifting her head again. She presented a perfect picture of an embarrassed teenage girl.

The doctor sensed that she was in inner turmoil and smiled at her encouragingly, nodding that he understands her, that she could tell him what was on her heart.

But Andrea already sunk in the role she was playing, not needing any more encouragement from the doctor and she stuttered: "It's kind of … secret …" Her voice got quieter with each word and finally vanished and she looked at the doctor with big questioning eyes.

The man understood what she wanted him to say, so he smiled slightly and nodded: "Your secret is safe with me." After a second he added thoughtfully: "Of course, as long as it doesn't break any laws."

Andrea lifted her hands with palms turned towards the doctor as if in dismay and shook her head vigorously: "Of course not! It's completely legal. It's just … embarrassing." She paused, took a deep breath and continued with her eyes directed at John: "You see, John and I … well, we're kind of dating and my parents aren't all too fond of it. In fact, they forbade me to keep seeing him." She looked at the doctor, gauging his reaction and was satisfied to see that he was obviously buying her acting and decided to continue the show she was putting up for the doctor. True, she felt a bit bad for playing the nice man so but if it was what it took for her to keep John and his secrets safe, then ...

"Actually, they don't know where I am. They think that I came here with my brother and some friends." At these words she felt a sharp sting in her heart. _Tim! I still don't know what happened to him! _But she gathered her thoughts again and continued before the doctor could notice that something was off: "Actually I am," she smiled vaguely at him, "it's just the company that's not exactly the one I told them would be there."

The doctor looked sharply at her and tried to judge her. But Andrea was better actress than he was an observer and he believed her performance fully. He sighed and his eyes roamed over to John for a second before he turned back to Andrea: "So, what would they do if they knew that you're with him?" After a short pause, he added: "And lying to them too. I guess they wouldn't be exactly thrilled." This time his voice got that distinct tone of a father, admonishing his beloved daughter for doing something stupid.

Andrea noticed that he obviously believed her and grinned inwardly at her successful performance, but on the outside she still maintained the same expression. She shrugged slightly before looking at the man again. _Maintain eye contact! He'll believe every word you say if you keep on looking him in the eye! _"I don't know exactly. But I'm sure they'd at least ground me, probably have a heated discussion with John and forbid me to ever see him again."

"Could they do it? I mean … you're looking old enough to not be subjected to such drastic restrictions." The doctor scrunched his face.

Andrea nodded convinced: "They could. They're rich enough to hang some security guys on my tail just to make sure I'd never again see John."

"I see." The doctor nodded. _Rich people! They think that they can achieve and buy anything with their money and the interests of their children are always secondary to their own ones._

Andrea looked sideways at the doctor, who was still nodding slightly with absentminded eyes. _Andrea, you bitch! You should really attend some acting school! Maybe I should consider moving to L.A. and try my luck in show business?_ Then she inhaled deeply again: "So, you see, if I or John would appear in the hospital, they'd find it out and they'd do what I fear the most." She looked at the doctor again to judge his reaction and after she satisfied herself, she delivered her final blow: "I'll bring him home and find someone to bring him in the hospital there. It won't be suspicious if he's brought to the hospital in his home city."

"Wait a moment!" The doctor suddenly saw a flaw in her explanation and objected. "I could bring him in the hospital here. You don't have to appear at all."

Andrea felt a cold shiver running down her spine. That was something she didn't thought of, so she thought frantically to fabricate some believable excuse to prevent the doctor from bringing John to the hospital by himself. She shook her head: "No, that wouldn't be prudent. My parents know where I am and if John would suddenly be taken to the hospital in the immediate vicinity, they'd understand the situation perfectly. They know that I'm still more than interested in him." _Excellent excuse! Now just hope that he'll buy it!_

But the doctor was still suspicious: "How could they even know that he'd be brought to the hospital here? It's not like they'd oversee the data of each hospital actions in the States, now would they?" He began to doubt Andrea's story again.

Andrea sighed: "You don't know them! They're quite paranoid when it comes to my relationship with John. I'm sure that they're monitoring everything that's going on in the circle of 100 miles from this position." She paused and added: "And they do have the means to do it. After all, they own an IT company that deals mainly with the government." She let it at that. In truth, she felt bad to have told the nice doctor so many lies, but if they'd help John, she wouldn't regret them.

This time the doctor sank in his thoughts for few minutes and didn't even see Andrea's expectant looks. He was mulling over all the information Andrea gave him. He could see that the girl was absolutely reluctant to bring John to the hospital here, but he saw that she was genuinely worried for him and would undoubtedly do the best for him. She would surely bring him to another hospital. He looked at John for a second and saw that he was still sleeping. His condition was satisfactory and he was stable, not in any acute life threatening condition. Actually, he was doing a lot better than expected and he would have no problems if he'd be admitted to the hospital a day later. After all, he should be brought to the hospital just for few days to be observed.

He sighed deeply and turned to Andrea: "I don't believe that I'm really going to say this, but … OK, I accept your explanation but you have to promise me to bring him in the hospital as soon as possible." He paused and after a second he waggled his finger at her: "And you have to resolve this situation with your parents. One way or another. It can't stay this way." Then he remembered something: "You were mentioning your brother who disappeared?"

As much as Andrea felt relieved that John would be all right and that her Academy award worth acting performance convinced the doctor, she felt pain at mention of Tim's name. She nodded and answered with constricted throat: "Yes, he went to find you, but vanished. I found his car just before the driveway to your house, but no trace of him." She turned her sad eyes to him, this time not acting: "I'm afraid that something happened to him and I have no idea what to do."

The doctor suddenly looked like he'd remember something: "When did he go to the village?"

Andrea thought of the time for a second and told the doctor. He went silent for a while, like he would be calculating something and then turned his frowning face to her: "I think that I heard something around the time he could have been at my house. Like a car would hit something or someone. But I'm not sure. It could have been the television." He looked at her apologetically: "I was watching some crime movie with lots of shooting and car chasing. So I'm not sure if I heard something from the outside or was it just the movie."

Andrea felt how something tightened around her throat again. Was it possible that someone hit Tim? But if so … where was he? If it was a hit and the person who did it ran away, then his body should be somewhere around the car, but it wasn't there. She couldn't answer and suddenly felt the doctor's hand, which touched her shoulder gently. She looked up at him with wet eyes, unable to say anything.

The doctor noticed her pained expression. _This young lady really has it rough today. Nobody should lose her brother and almost lose her boyfriend in one night!_ He pulled Andrea in fatherly hug. "Everything's going to be all right, Andrea, you'll see. John will be all right and your brother will be found. Or he'll simply knock here on the door and surprise you."

Andrea suddenly broke down in tears and sobbed into doctor's shoulder: "I'm so scared that something bad happened to him." She put her arms around him and allowed him to comfort her.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Damn it!" Derek groaned as they had again been tossed all over the loading area of the van like puppets. Ever since the van started moving, it looked like the person who was driving it, enjoyed to have hit every pothole, every bump on the road. Derek tried his best to get hold on something, but the surfaces of the compartment were completely smooth, with nothing to get a grip at. So his only possibility was to squeeze himself in the corner and tried to support himself with legs, which were, unfortunately, slipping on the also smooth floorboard. So he needed also the assistance of his palms, trying to glue them on the surface and failing terribly.

Sarah was even less lucky then Derek. With her right hand being completely useless due to broken fingers, she could only depend on her feet to press herself against the other corner. Her left hand was busy holding her right one as tight to her body as she managed to at least partially prevent it from hitting anything hard. She had been tossed around quite a few times and every time her right hand hit the boards, she scrunched her face in pain, but never let out a single sound. She didn't know why she tried to remain silent and didn't even groan a little. Perhaps she wanted to show Derek that she was the tough Sarah Connor? Perhaps she was ashamed to show him that it hurt terribly? She had no idea what was the reason, but she kept on clenching her teeth and suffer in silence.

Derek saw how she tried to remain silent and also sensed that she was on the edge of her endurance. But he knew better than to say anything in that direction, so he decided he'd at least try to distract her a bit. He told her what he machine did to him and after a while, Sarah accepted the offered hand and told him what it did to her.

Although they have been tossed around ever anew, they managed to tell each other what happened to them and after they finished, Sarah sighed satisfied that they didn't reveal any information about John and Cameron. She even felt ashamed that she for a moment doubted Derek's endurance and feared he might break down and tell the machine what it wanted to hear.

The van suddenly stopped and they both went completely silent. The possibility that their life might be ended soon was very near, more realistic that it had ever been before and Derek could only think of one: was there any possible solution of this situation? He wasn't tied, as well as Sarah wasn't either, however, they were both in such a bad shape that it would make it impossible to fight, less yet to run. And still … he would have to do something to at least give Sarah the chance to run away. If only their opponent was human, not a relentless, never-give-up machine from the future.

"Sarah?" He began carefully and after she looked at him, continued: "I'm going to try to do something to that goddamn machine and when I do, you run like hell."

Sarah gaped at him incredulously: "No way, Reese! I'm not running and leaving you behind!"

Derek suddenly got deadly serious: "You will, you stubborn woman! You have a son to raise and prepare for the future. For once in your life do as I tell you!" After a second, he corrected his last statement: "As someone else tell you!" His last words were spoken in raised voice, signaling Sarah that she should do what he wanted her to and proving to her that he was really meaning it.

However, Sarah didn't want to hear anything about leaving Derek behind and she opened her mouth to tell him that he can stick his order somewhere, as the door of the van opened abruptly and silenced her.

As their heads jerked towards the door, they saw the machine standing there and staring at them. For a second it remained silent and then commanded: "Get out!"

Derek tried frantically to find a way out, but found none. So he decided to do what the terminator told them and try to assess the situation once outside the van. He slowly stepped towards the door, followed closely by Sarah, who still looked at him slightly annoyed that she hadn't got the chance to answer him. Then he got an idea.

The terminator stepped aside to let them step out of the van and waited. Derek slowly approached the door and as he was the closest to the terminator, he suddenly jumped towards it and slammed with his whole weight against it to get it to the ground, while simultaneously yelling to Sarah: "RUN, SARAH, RUN!"

Sarah was too shocked to react as fast as she normally could. Besides, they've been in the van for quite a long time and she had to narrow her eyes for the bright light that hit them and almost blinded her. They've been in sparsely lit rooms and now in the van, where only a small light broke the complete darkness for too long and her eyes needed some time to get accustomed to the bright sunlight that shone outside.

However, Derek's little stunt had little effect on the machine. It seemed like it would be prepared for such attempt and it barely swayed a little as Derek's not insignificant body weight crashed into it. It only grabbed the resistance fighter by his sides and threw him to the ground like he was a small baby.

It looked like the machine would sneer in anger at Derek, but it stopped before hitting him or killing him. Its facial expression was in a second blank again and it commanded in icy voice: "Get up! And don't try anything like that again!"

Derek grunted in disappointment that he failed in his attempt, while Sarah just gaped at him angrily: "I told you it wouldn't work that way!"

"Well, I had to do something, even if it was just a foolish idea!" Derek sneered back in anger while he got up from the ground and threw the machine a look full of hatred.

Meanwhile, their pupils narrowed enough so that they could see where they were and as Derek looked around, he found himself standing close to the rim of some canyon or abyss. They were obviously somewhere in the mountains and the edge of the terrain signaled him that there must be a substantial vertical drop down into the valley below. Substantial enough that they had absolutely no chance to survive.

Sarah gasped beside him. She took the situation in too and realized that they were most probably nearing the end of the line. They were close to the abyss, held in check by a machine, obviously determined to throw them down into the abyss or perhaps shooting them first. It actually didn't matter what would come first, they would never survive the free fall down the mountainside. She cast a quick glance at Derek, seeing that his eyes were wide open too. "I'm sorry." She muttered quietly, not knowing why she said it at all.

Suddenly Derek's eyes turned to her with clear incomprehension written all over his face: "Why would you be sorry?"

"For getting us into this situation. I should have listened to you. And to John too." Sarah's voice was quiet, almost timid, and completely uncharacteristic for her.

"We're not dead yet, Sarah. Say that you're sorry when, and if, we'll be flying down the abyss. Not before!" Derek tried to lift her spirit although he was aware of the fact that he had never been in such hopeless situation. He knew that he couldn't get away from the iron grip of the machine, which meanwhile grabbed them both by their necks and slowly walked them towards the rim. Was this really the end of line? Was there any other chance to get out?

XXXXXXXXXX

After few minutes of sobbing into doctor's shoulder, Andrea managed to get a grip on her feelings and was now pulling away from him, carefully hiding her tear streaked face and feeling ashamed that she gave in to her feelings so freely. "I'm sorry for overreacting." She whispered without looking into doctor's eyes.

The doctor smiled gently at her bowed head, laid his hand on her shoulder and as he spoke, his voice was just like a voice of a father, consoling his distraught daughter: "It's OK, Andrea. There's nothing to be ashamed of. It's absolutely understandable that you're worried for your brother." He chuckled quietly and humorlessly: "Actually, I'd be worried if you weren't so upset."

Andrea finally managed to look into his eyes thankfully: "Thank you." Then her eyes flickered towards John, who was apparently still sleeping: "When is he going to wake up?"

Doctor's eyes wandered towards John too and he sighed with slightly tilted head: "I believe he should wake soon. I gave him just a light sedative that should wear out any minute now. I'll wait until he wakes up to check him once more to see if I can give him some stronger analgesic and then I'll be on my way home. But you definitely have to bring him into hospital!" He raised his finger to stress his last statement.

Andrea nodded: "I will take care of that, scout's honor!"

The doctor looked at her for a second with slightly doubtful face, but then decided to believe her. After all, she would not endanger her boyfriend's life with some stupid action. So he decided to ask her about few more details how John fell off the rock. He knew the general data, but there were still some pieces missing. "Was he climbing alone, or did anyone accompany him?"

Upon hearing his question, Andrea froze for a second. _There it goes again! He's asking questions I'm not prepared to answer! Think, Andrea! You managed it once, you can do it again!_ That was something she didn't consider when she wowed the imaginary story. In desperate attempt to find a plausible explanation, she opted for the simplest possible solution. "Yes. I'm no fan of rock climbing and neither is my brother. So he went there alone. After he failed to answer his phone and it got dark, we decided to go looking after him. Tim, my brother, found him but he was unconscious and too badly hurt to make it possible for Tim to bring him back alone, so he returned for me to help bring him here. After we somehow managed to drag John back here, Tim went to the village and …" her voice broke as she remembered her missing sibling again and she needed few moments to get over the wave of sadness.

Doctor nodded sympathetically: "I see. I'm really sorry for your brother."

Andrea managed to get over the sudden sadness and opened the mouth to answer, as John's groaning interrupted her. Her head shot in the direction of the bed and she bolted towards him, leaving the doctor on place. Before he could even move, Andrea was already at John's bed and looked at him like a hawk.

John moaned and stirred but did not yet open his eyes, although it was obvious that he was starting to wake up, slowly returning into the world of self aware, conscious beings.

"He should awake any second now." The doctor was already by Andrea's side and looked down at John expectantly. Neither said a word, they both just waited for him to wake up.

After few seconds, John's eyes slowly opened and needed some additional seconds to focus on the both people, standing over him and gazing at him expectantly. After he finally recognized who he was looking at, he moaned: "What happened?"

The doctor smiled at him and put the stethoscope to John's bare chest: "Your girlfriend brought me here just in time. You were unconscious and if we would come a little later, you would have slipped into coma. You should thank her appropriately."

Although John's brain worked only conditionally normal, he registered the doctor's words and one burned itself into his mind – 'girlfriend'! _How is that possible? Is Cameron here? Where is she?_ His eyes began to frantically search around the room, but he saw only Andrea and the man, who was obviously the doctor. He needed few more seconds to bring his brain into full working order and frowned at the doctor, who meanwhile removed the stethoscope from his body and hung it around the neck, obviously satisfied with what he felt. "How could C…"

As soon as John's eyes began to sweep the room eagerly, Andrea knew what was going in his mind. She heard the word 'girlfriend' too and understood immediately what John was looking for. She knew she had to stop him, before he'd say or do anything to reveal the truth, but had absolutely no idea what she could do. As John then looked at the doctor and began talking, she threw herself on him in desperate attempt to stop him and crashed her lips on his.

John's eyes widened in utter shock as Andrea threw herself on him and kissed him. He vividly remembered the similar situation few months ago and his lips stayed rigid as concrete. He tried to evade her, tried to lift his hands to push her away, but she pressed his head with hers into the pillow and prevented him from moving, while her hands pinned his down by his sides.

As she felt John's lips under hers, Andrea too remembered her ill fated attempt from the winter vacation and felt ashamed again. But this was the only solution that she could think of at the moment. She felt how John tensed under her and saw his eyes narrowing at her in anger. She realized that she was lucky not to be thrown away from him. John was still so weak that she could hold him on the bed, although just barely. She let go of his lips for a second just to whisper urgently: "Play along John! I'll explain later! Please!"

John was just about to explode in anger over her action, as she whispered him to play the game. As much as he knew her, he could hear that she was very distressed and as he looked into her eyes, he saw that she didn't like it any more than he did. But there was obviously something going on that he had no idea about and he decided to follow her instruction for a moment. He barely noticeable nodded to her and saw relief, washing over her features. His body relaxed slowly and allowed Andrea to rest her hands on his wrists just lightly.

"I'm so glad that you woke up, John! I was so worried!" Andrea now exclaimed aloud, after she pulled back from his face, winking at him.

The doctor didn't suspect anything and looked at the couple smiling, thinking how must have it been difficult for the girl. After Andrea withdrew, he spoke to John: "Yes, even though her brother went missing, she decided to help you first and brought me here. She's really special!"

John's eyes widened again at the information that Tim went missing: "What? Where's Tim?" His eyes flickered to Andrea and he could see that her eyes began to glitter wetly again.

She shook her head: "I don't know. He disappeared. I found our car in the village but there was no trace of him." She paused. It was obviously difficult for her to talk about Tim.

John now grabbed her hand and squeezed it compassionately: "We'll find him, Andrea, don't worry!" He knew that he was probably making an empty promise, at least at the moment, but he meant it completely sincerely. If Tim really went missing while trying to get help for him than he could do no less than try everything possible to find him.

The doctor shook his head resolutely: "You're not going to do anything significant for a while, young man! You're too heavily injured to even think of running around and searching for her brother. I barely convinced your girlfriend to promise me she'd get you in a hospital as soon as possible. You have to stay there for a while under observation. I'm almost sure that you have no life threatening injuries, but you should still be under control for a while."

"But …" John wanted to object. He knew that he would need an extensive period of time to heal, but he still felt down. _Not only that Cameron is missing, now even Tim vanished. Not to even think of my mom and Derek! Everyone went missing because of me. Stupid, stupid John Connor!_ His face turned away from Andrea and the doctor to hide the anger and tears that formed in his eyes, however not just out of grief for his fiancée but also because he was so furious at himself to have brought everyone he loved into such situation.

Andrea gently put her hand on his shoulder: "It's not your fault John! I know that you think it is, but it's not. Tim decided for himself that he wanted to help you."

Her words slowly penetrated the wall of John's anger and after few seconds he nodded and turned to face her. He swallowed as he saw her sad eyes. _Excellent work John! Everyone else is missing and the only one who's left is miserable because of you._ He still considered himself responsible for everything that happened, but decided to humor Andrea and pretend as if he would understand and accept her words.

Andrea looked at him sharply and saw that she failed to convince him. With a sigh, she let it go for the moment. This was not the time and place to explain everything thoroughly and risk a confrontation with self loathing John. So she put on a fake smile and nodded to John.

John was very far from being convinced that he wasn't responsible for what happened and he still mulled over everything. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind what would Cameron say if she knew that Andrea kissed him. A propos: she, Andrea, would have some explaining to do after they would remain alone. He understood that she must have played some kind of a game to convince doctor. He understood it but that didn't mean he accepted and approved of it. There must have been a story behind it all, a story, he had no idea about and he was absolutely determined to find out about it in detail.

_Would Cameron be upset if she found out that Andrea kissed me? Would it be wise to tell her at all? She can have such a jealous streak sometimes! Maybe I shouldn't tell her at all?_ Thoughts stumbled one over another in his mind while he was trying to decide whether to tell Cameron that Andrea kissed him … again! … or not. He remembered all too well how it ended when she tried to kiss him the first time, how he spent hours searching for Cameron, who disappeared right after seeing them kissing. It didn't matter that he wasn't willingly participating in the kiss.

And yet, he felt that it would be stupid not to tell her. After all … it really meant nothing, but if they'd try to hide it, it would only turn an almost innocent deed into something very suspicious. No, it would be better to tell her everything. _I'm sure she'll understand. After all, she understood it the first time too. If I only knew where she is …_

While he was pondering over this problem, no one spoke. The doctor checked his leg and his ribs, while Andrea stood a little aside and looked at them with sad and worried eyes.

After he finished the inspection, the doctor straightened up, sighed slightly and looked at Andrea with a hint of a smile: "I think that he's OK. Considering his injuries, he's doing remarkably well. So, I'll be on my way then." He stopped and looked at her sternly: "And don't forget what you promised! You have to bring him into a hospital soon!"

Andrea nodded reassuringly. She knew that she was probably lying to the kind doctor, but she still played her part.

The doctor bowed again to pick up his suitcase, but just as he straightened up and turned to walk to the door, it opened abruptly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cameron paused for a second and admired her handiwork with slightly tilted head. She managed to reconnect her legs in a very short time and was at the moment stitching the skin on her hips together. She stitched the open cuts on her legs before she reconnected them and after she managed to finish all mechanical, electrical and other works she had to do, she just had to stitch the skin on her hips and the legs together.

She checked the legs thoroughly and smiled satisfied as the scans resulted in no warnings. They didn't damage anything. Well, beside the obvious cutting work, that is. But the structure of her legs was undamaged and now again fully functional.

Laying the needle on the chest, she stood up and checked how the stitches held together. After a short jogging intermezzo, she smiled in recognition that everything was just fine. She knew that she'd have to be careful with her wounds for a short time and not overburden her legs if she wanted her skin to regenerate quickly. But she also knew that she had some urgent things to do before she could start looking after her injuries.

After she finished the work on her legs, she considered her internal clock and was satisfied that she managed to get everything done in significantly less than two hours. _Pretty good when you consider that target time for such repairs is over three hours! _She thought to herself.

In that moment the door opened and Chris entered the room, carrying some clothes for her over his arm. "Here, Cameron. Your clothes had been destroyed and I could only find these." His face was red and he was more than obviously trying very hard not to look at her, clad only in her underwear, standing in the middle of the room. His eyes involuntarily swept along her legs, looking like a ragged doll or Frankenstein monster, so full of cuts, bruises and stitches. But he quickly looked away shyly, trying not to look at improper places. Even though he knew very well what Cameron was … after all, the evidence was standing in front of him … he had to admit to himself that she definitely looked gorgeous. Not that he would even think of her in that way; he just had to acknowledge that she was a beautiful young lady … or a beautiful young looking cyborg, to be more exact.

Just few months ago Cameron wouldn't understand his reaction, but now understood that he was embarrassed and suddenly she smiled slightly impishly at him: "Thank you Chris. You're very considerate." She reached for the clothes and took them.

Chris blushed even more and looked aside: "Ahem … well … it's the least I can do. You can't go out like that."

"I know." Answered Cameron crisply, while putting on the jeans. It was a bit too big, but would do for the time being. After she returned to her John, she could pick some of her own clothes. A realization, that she even began to like some clothes and dislike the others, without comparing their tactical advantages, dawned on her.

"So, where are we going to go?" Chris now finally got the blushing under control and looked at her, satisfied that she already put on the jeans and T shirt. A slight sigh underlined his relief to see her normally clad. The clothes also covered the majority of her injuries, just few cuts on her arms were visible.

_Now's the time to tell him!_ Cameron looked at him thoughtfully. "To find my John. But first I'm going somewhere where you shouldn't go."

Chris' head snapped up in alarm and he looked at her wide eyed: "What? Where?"

Cameron decided to tell him the plan: "I'm going back to the base to destroy it. Then we're going to find John." She was, as always, short, clear and up to the point.

Chris' jaw almost hit the ground: "WHAT? You can't be serious! There are hundreds of soldier in there and they'll take you down! No! We have to run!" His eyes suddenly looked haunted at the thought that she would return into the base from which he just saved her.

Cameron looked at him deadly serious: "I understand your fears. But that's something I have to do. I cannot leave without destroying everything that's in the base. They know too much and they'd follow me everywhere I'd go. No, I have to do it and I have to do it alone."

A sudden sound caused her to turn towards the door in highest alarm. She had no weapons at hand, so she just jumped to the door and flattened herself against the wall beside the door, before Chris could even react.

In the next moment the door opened and before the person, who was entering the room managed to make a step into it, Cameron's arm shot out and in next moment she held the neck of a soldier in her hand, squeezing just enough to almost choke him. But just almost. She pulled him into the room, almost dragging his feet.

A gurgling sound emanated from the man's throat, proving that he was unable to talk. "STOP! It's the man who helped me get you out!" Chris yelled almost in panic at Cameron, who was now holding the man on the tips of his toes, glaring daggers into his face.

She turned to Chris, with surprise clearly written on her face: "You said he wouldn't come here!" It wasn't a question, it was a clear statement. Her grip relaxed just a little bit, so that the man was able to talk.

"I didn't intend to come, but I thought that I should check if everything was OK." The man managed to explain hurriedly, with eyes, clearly bulging in fear that she might break his neck.

Cameron now finally took a good look at the man and instantly recognized one of the soldiers that always took her from her cell to the lab and back. She also remembered that he never joined his comrades in ranting and always kept a reserved stance. "Why would I believe you?"

"Cameron, please!" Chris urged her with pleading voice. "He is on our side, really! He organized everything for the escape. Let him go!" His voice was still pleading and perhaps even a little frightened; no commanding tone could be noticed. He knew that it would do him very little good to try to stop her otherwise than convincing her. The scene before his eyes revealed to him what this machine was actually capable of. She held the much bigger and heavier soldier in her iron grip like he would be a small kitten and her face, set in stone, talked clearly about her determination. Perhaps for the first time since he met her, he realized that the information about how dangerous she could be were probably correct.

Cameron thought for the moment and then turned to look at the man, whom she still held by his throat, in the eyes: "Are you here to harm me?"

"No, I'm here to help you!" Managed the man with choking voice. He knew that she only needed to grip a little tighter and he would have seen the last of this world.

Cameron remained still for a second but then she gently lowered the man and let him go: "You're telling the truth!" Her voice was slightly surprised and also in her eyes it was obvious that she was slightly taken aback that the man was not lying and that he was obviously really here to help her. Then she remembered that humans normally apologized in such situations, after making a mistake. "I'm sorry." She said quietly, but she understood the implication of the apology. The man wanted to help her but she almost choked him. It wasn't very nice and she regretted it. Although … on the other hand … she couldn't have known what his intentions were and it was the only logical reaction to stop a possible danger before it could became real.

Chris sighed relieved as she let the man go and looked at the soldier, who put his hands to his throat and breathed deeply, while casting a worried and yet at the same time admiring look at Cameron. She just stood there and looked slightly apologetically at him, although her face remained almost blank. Then Chris remembered that the soldier shouldn't be here at all: "Why are you here? You said you'd be on your way." It wasn't an accusation, just a question.

The soldier looked at Chris and took few deep breaths before answering: "I know. But after I returned to the base, I disabled the communication installation and just wanted to inform you that they have no way to inform anyone about what happened. I thought it could give you a little more time to get away." He paused and his face suddenly got a very sly look before he continued: "I also cause a lock down of the base. No one can get in or out. At least not for few hours before they manage to bypass the firewalls I installed."

Cameron suddenly got the idea. If the base was cut off from the rest of the world, then she could get in without fear that they would call for back up. The fact that the soldier stood here proved to her that he had a way to get out and most definitely also back in the base, regardless of the lock down. Her eyes scanned the soldier up and down, noticing that he was quite a corpulent man, taller than average and obviously in good physical shape. He definitely wasn't stupid, if he managed to disable the communication channels and effectively close the base. Maybe he could help her fulfill her new mission.

Chris sighed: "That's good news." Then he remembered that Cameron said she'd return to the base and destroy it. He turned to her: "Are you still intending to destroy the base, Cameron?"

The soldier's eyes darted from Chris to Cameron in awe and before she could answer, he blurted out: "You're going to destroy the base? How?"

Cameron allowed the smallest of evil smiles to show on her face while nodding to the soldier: "Yes, I'm going back and I'll blow it up. I'll see how when I'm there."

The soldier's face suddenly turned into a clearly smug smile: "Oh, I believe I could help you in doing that!" he looked at her expectantly, completely forgetting that Chris was still in the room, looking at the plotting duo wide eyed. "I've prepared some things before in case I'd have to make a booming distraction during our escape."

"Hey, you two! What are you up to?" Chris protested aloud and looked from Cameron to the soldier and back. He simply couldn't believe what he was hearing. The machine and the soldier just met, but were already planning an attack at the heavily guarded military base. This was simply too much!

Cameron looked into the soldier's face for few seconds, trying to figure out if he was being serious or not. "Why would you want to help me? Remember … I'm just a merciless killing machine and you would be going against your comrades." She tilted her head slightly in expectance of his answer. Sarcasm of her words was unnoticeable for the two men. She knew that john would probably hear it, but he was not here. She chased the thought of her lover away. Now was not the time to be sentimental. After the job would be done … then she could get a little sentimental.

The man grinned at her and shook his head: "Well, they're not really my comrades. I've just joined them and … frankly … I don't approve of what was going on in there." He paused and looked at Cameron to gauge her reaction before continuing: "Helping you out was just a part of my plan. I disabled the communications, locked the base down and I have a way to penetrate the base unseen. I want to take it down too."

Cameron watched the soldier like a hawk. What he told her was more than pleasing to hear, but she had to be absolutely sure that he didn't just try to fool her. She couldn't find any signs that he would be lying to her and after few moments, she nodded barely visible: "How will you get back in?"

"Hey, stop it right now!" Chris stepped between the two of them with his hands raised, palms towards them both, his head bobbing vividly from one side to another as if he would be trying to look at both of them simultaneously. "You can't be seriously considering the diversion? Remember … it's heavily guarded and protected base! We had problems getting out and as of now, they sure know that something's wrong and will be even more alert to possible intrusions! You'll just get killed in the process!" He turned towards Cameron: "I only just saved you! I don't want you to get back in! we should go find your fiancée and not blow up a military base!"

Cameron felt strangely touched by Chris' words. _He really cares for me, after knowing me for just a little more than one day. _But she knew that she had to do this. So she said gently: "Chris, I already told you that there is evidence in the base that I cannot risk getting into someone's hands. I have to take care of them." She however noticed that the soldier didn't look all too surprised as Chris slipped and mentioned her fiancée. _Strange! I would expect him to react shocked upon hearing that the machine is engaged to get married with a human._ It was really strange and she would find out why the soldier wasn't surprised later. After they'd completed their job and the base would be no more.

The soldier nodded his approval and suddenly Chris felt crushed between two hard headed individuals, pulling at the same line against him. He knew that he had no chance of winning this matter, so he sighed and hung his head for a second before looking into Cameron's eyes again: "I understand. I'm just worried that something might happen to you two. Then everything we've done until now would be in vain."

Cameron managed a small smile: "We'll be all right, Chris, don't worry. We know how to take care of ourselves."

"Yeah, like before when they incapacitated you and captured you." It came out a lot more poisonous than Chris intended it to and he immediately regretted saying it at all. He saw how a shadow flickered over Cameron's face for a second.

Cameron felt like he would have stung her and for a second she looked at the ground, but regained her composure almost instantly and looked at him defiantly: "I have been a little distracted at the time and wasn't completely alerted to possible threats. My mistake! Now I know what I'm up against and I'm prepared."

Chris looked at her apologetically: "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it." He paused before his face got a resolute expression and he continued with hard voice: "I'm coming with you."

Cameron shook her head vigorously: "Absolutely not! We're going in alone and you will stay here to prepare everything for our retreat." She looked at him with icy eyes: "You have to be prepared for a hasty retreat after we're back. We don't know if there's going to be someone chasing after us."

The soldier was just listening to the dialogue and didn't interfere. But now he felt that he should also intervene: "She's right you know. The way in is easier for two than for three. Besides … you're more of a scientific type. We might have to fight and shoot our way out and that's something you're not experienced in."

Cameron looked at the soldier thankfully. She really didn't want Chris to come with them. Not only because she feared she'd have to protect him and wouldn't be able to completely concentrate on the task, but also because she suddenly realized that she cared for him. She cared for him like she cared for Andrea and Tim. And it surprised her that she suddenly began to care for people other than John. But, on the other hand … why wouldn't she care for Chris? He risked his life and everything to save her from the military and it was only right to look after him, like he looked after her.

Chris was torn between his feelings and common sense. He knew that he had very few experiences in combat and this action would very probably result in some fighting. But, he also wanted to go with them. He mulled over decision and then looked into Cameron's eyes that were looking at him with just a hint of sympathy in them. He sighed heavily: "I would only burden and slow you down, right?"

Cameron nodded although it looked that she didn't want to confirm his statement: "Yes, I'm afraid so, Chris. But we really need you to wait for us. You could bring us as close to the base as possible and wait there for us. We'll be in a hurry when we return." Even though she knew that it was hurtful for Chris to hear that he would be in way, she still didn't want to have anything left unclear. No matter the circumstances, to have clear relationships and understanding from the start was the best policy in such matters where lives were at stake.

Chris nodded and sighed again before responding: "I guess I could bring you almost to the gates of the base and wait there. It would spare you few miles walking in one direction."

Cameron felt strangely relieved that he agreed to wait for them on, at least conditionally, safe place and she nodded to him: "That would be perfect." Then she turned to the soldier, who was again waiting for their discussion to be over: "So, what is your way back in?"

TBC

* * *

_A/N_

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The things are definitely turning to better (at least for Cameron and John). Next chapter will then reveal very much (almost everything) about the plot itself, about the destiny that awaits our heroes... However, I'm not sure if I'll manage it next week. It might take a little longer before I post it._


	15. Chapter 14

_This chapter will reveal a lot. Many questions about the plot will be answered, but not all. I know that everyone has their speculations about what actually happened (and why) and there may be some surprises waiting for you in this chapter._

_Actually, the story is slowly nearing the end. There are two or three more chapters left, but it's not set in stone, so it might change too, although I don't expect it to. The last chapters will have much (MUCH) less action and MUCH more emotional moments than the ones, already posted._

_I hope that the plot won't disappoint you, although there are still some secrets that I keep and will not be revealed in this chapter (maybe in the last ones …). Or perhaps even not in this story … who knows …_

* * *

**Chapter 14**

"Well, it looks like we're totally busted." Derek's voice sounded more ironical than scared. They were now standing at the edge of the abyss and the terminator, going by the name of Mr. Muscle was at the moment pulling a gun out of its holster, standing few feet away from them, blocking them the way to the van. Derek tried not only to find a way out, he really tried to somehow distract the machine and give at least Sarah the chance to run, but the machine was obviously prepared for everything he could come up with and always positioned itself so that he had no chance of fulfilling his intentions. He had to realize that there was absolutely no chance of succeeding. But even if he could somehow find a way to distract the terminator, Sarah made him adamantly clear that she would not even try to run without him.

Sarah was completely convinced that even if Derek managed to give her a head start she wouldn't last longer than few seconds. The terminator was too strong and too fast for her, especially in her present condition. It would have no problems dealing with Derek swiftly and she wouldn't be able to run a dozen yards before it would catch up with her. So she decided to stay with Derek, no matter what might happen. Almost subconsciously, she grabbed his right arm with her good left hand, as if she would seek some kind of moral support in these last moments. It was highly unlikely that something could happen to prevent the machine from killing them.

The terminator looked at the pair emotionless and slowly pulled the gun out of its holster, pointing it at Derek: "Derek Reese, you have been terminated."

Upon hearing these words, Derek closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable darkness to claim him. Every second now he would hear the gunshot and it would be the last thing he'd hear in his life. He gained no false hopes that the machine could miss him from such a short distance.

But the seconds ticked off and nothing happened. Derek as well as Sarah still stood there, clutching to each other, their eyes closed in anticipation of the termination. And still, there was no gunshot. Instead, they heard a thump, as if something heavy would fall down.

Sarah was the first to risk opening her eyes and the scene before her eyes made her gasp aloud in shock. Her gasp and sudden iron grip of her hand on his arm caused that Derek's eyes opened abruptly and he repeated the same sound of surprise that Sarah just made. They both stared wide-eyed at the scene, not quite believing their eyes.

The machine lay unmoving on the ground and a young man hurriedly cut into its scalp exactly where the chip was. According to his hasty but still very well coordinated movements it was more than clear that he knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying to extract the machine's chip.

Both Sarah and Derek stood with mouth hanging open, unable to move, just staring at the man. Derek didn't even register when Sarah's hand fall off of his arm, so he put it around Sarah's waist and pressed her firmly to his side, his eyes glued to the activity unveiling itself in front of him.

After quite a few seconds, Sarah finally got her astonishment under control and gasped: "What the hell?" She tried to step towards the man, who was now at the task of opening the chip port. He already peeled the scalp flap away and was now inserting his knife under the cap.

Derek regained control over his actions a little later than Sarah, but he still managed to stop her before she could start towards them. He pushed her back resolutely: "Stay here Sarah! You don't know what's going on!" He then extricated his arm from around her and wanted to step towards the man himself, but this time it was Sarah, who held him back. He looked at her irritated, but her steady glare prevented him for saying anything.

The man meanwhile already got the port cover off and was now gripping at the chip with pliers.

_How the hell does he have all equipment at hand to disable a terminator? Who the fuck is this guy?_ A thought shot through Sarah's mind. She couldn't see the man's face, but she could see that it was a young black man.

Derek managed to get out of Sarah's iron grip and hurried towards the man. He didn't know exactly what to do, but it was obvious that man's intentions at least for the time being were to disable the machine. Whoever it was, he saved their lives and he could at least help him. Although it didn't seem like he would need any help.

Just as Derek reached the man, Sarah hot on his heels, the man pulled the terminator chip out of its socket and they all saw, how it flared for a second, destroying itself completely.

The man held the pliers and the chip in it in the air and breathed heavily. Just as Sarah and Derek stopped in front of him, he finally looked up at them and caused Sarah to froze in the midst of a step.

She knew this man. She hadn't seen him in years, but she'd recognize this face everywhere. "Danny?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The soldier squeezed himself through the small opening of the ventilation shaft and jumped down on the floor under it. As soon as he was down, he stepped a little aside and turned back up to the opening, stretching his arm: "Do you need any help?"

Cameron ignored his outstretched hand and jumped gracefully through the opening. After landing on her feet, she turned to the soldier: "No, thanks." Ever since she borrowed the phone from Chris and tried to contact John, Sarah, Derek, Andrea or Tim but couldn't reach anyone, she was even less talkative than normal. She was worried that something might have happened to them and wanted to return to the cabin as soon as possible. In fact, she began to hesitate what was the most important thing to do right now … return to John or destroy the base. No matter how much her 'heart' wanted to run to John, the logic dictated her that she should destroy the base and then hurry to see what was wrong with John and the others. She was here now, the base was effectively cut off from the rest of the world and should she now first try to find John, she could lose the opportunity to destroy the base forever. So she clenched her teeth, pushed thoughts on John in the background and concentrated on destroying the base as quickly as possible.

The soldier grinned slightly at her and shook his head: "I should have known." Then he turned and stepped towards the door in the adjacent wall. They were obviously in some kind of a storage room, but the shelves were almost empty and it looked like it wouldn't be visited very often and Cameron felt satisfaction that the soldier obviously found a way into the base that wasn't heavily guarded. She already scanned the room and found that there were cameras installed, but they were inactive.

She followed the soldier towards the door, but before he could open it, she urged him: "Wait!"

His hand stopped in the midair just above the door knob and he turned towards Cameron in surprise: "Why?"

"Do you know exactly where we are and where we must go to start the self destruct sequence?" Cameron inquired flatly and looked at him coldly. She still didn't trust this man completely and was on high alert for possible dangers and, however impossible it might seem, betrayal by him.

The man nodded: "Of course! This is the same way I got out. The explosives have been positioned in the rooms during installation of self destruct device, we just need to start the sequence and it can only be started from the command center. And that's where we're going now. It will be heavily guarded and I guess you're the only one who could get in."

Cameron looked at him thoughtfully and answered flatly, without revealing any emotions: "I don't think so. They know exactly how to disable me and I have no doubts that they would do it if I as much as show myself in front of them. You'll have to lead the way."

The soldier looked at her apprehensively. "You're right. Everyone had been specifically taught about you and at all times we had to carry a special taser, specifically designed to disable you." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. After few seconds he turned his eyes back to Cameron: "I'll go in as first. They don't know that I'm the one who brought you out and I can get through without being too suspicious."

Cameron was now on highest alert. She didn't know if the soldier still carried this special taser with him and if he would even consider using it on her. "Do you still have this weapon with you?" Her voice was absolutely flat and emotionless, but her eyes were narrowed towards him dangerously.

The soldier nodded absentmindedly: "Sure! Why are you asking?" But before he could hear her answer, he felt an iron grip on his arm, which made him look up in total surprise. What he saw sent shivers down his spine. The almost human expression that Cameron showed him since they started this mission was replaced with ice cold eyes of a terminator on assignment. Cameron's brown irises seemed to slightly glow in red and he instantly realized why. "Wait! I have absolutely no intentions on using it!" He hasted in attempt to reassure her. And he was telling her the truth. He would never use it on her.

Cameron realized that he was telling her the truth, but was reluctant to let him off the hook so easily. She practically growled at him: "I'd feel much better if you'd give the weapon to me."

Somehow the soldier knew that she wasn't asking him nicely. She demanded it and he knew that he'd better do it. If there was something you should never do, than it was denying the terminator what it demanded. He nodded and his hand already moved towards the weapon on his belt, but he remembered that she could see it as a threat, so he stopped and said: "It's on the right side of my belt, behind the gun. Take it out."

Cameron flickered her eyes towards the said spot and noticed a strange weapon, which she immediately recognized as the same type of taser that had been used so often on her since they attacked her. She reached for it and pulled it out, just to stuck it in the back of her jeans. Then she let go of the soldier's arm: "I apologize if I hurt you." No matter how dryly it sounded, she meant it.

The soldier just nodded, knowing that it was better to follow Cameron's wishes than to oppose her. Not only for the mission, even more so for his health and life.

After the taser, which could disable her instantly, was safely stuck behind her back, Cameron instantly returned to their previous conversation. She felt better now that she made him clear that she was the main target and would therefore also be incapacitated as soon as they'd spot her. _I really should find a solution for this electrocuting thing. After I'm back with John we'll work on it._ "OK, you get through and I'll take care that no one disturbs you. If they don't see me, I can take them out without any problems." Then she suddenly stopped. _John wouldn't want me to kill all these people, especially not the innocent ones. The soldiers and scientists, OK, I guess he'd agree that they must be eliminated, but the others …_ Suddenly she felt cornered. She knew she didn't want to do something John wouldn't approve and she even felt that it would be wrong to kill everyone in the base. But how could she separate the innocent ones and the other ones, the ones who knew her secret and who tortured her, trying to extract her secrets and even kill her?

The soldier looked at her strangely. He sensed that she was pondering on something, but he also knew that they should hurry. So he urged her: "We really should go! We don't have much time left."

In that instant Cameron decided that she didn't want to kill so many innocent people and she answered to the waiting soldier: "We should change our plan. I don't want to kill all the people, even those who didn't do anything wrong but being here. We should find a way to separate the military and scientific personnel from the others. The others should get the chance to escape before we destroy the base." She stopped and looked almost lost in her thoughts. "We should gather all soldiers and scientists in secluded areas." Her eyes flickered to the soldier's face: "How's the standard procedure for evacuation? Do the personnel have their designated gathering places?"

The soldier was a bit surprised to hear Cameron expressing such thoughts; however, it was a positive surprise. _Damn, she definitely values human life!_ He nodded to her: "Sure … the military personnel have one gathering point, but it is relevant only under special circumstances, otherwise they have many separate gathering points, assisting other personnel during evacuation. I don't know for the scientific personnel though."

Cameron looked like she would be processing some very difficult problem and after few seconds, her face tilted upwards again: "What about if there were riots in the base or if the base was under major attack? Wouldn't it mean that all military personnel should be summoned to the spot immediately? Well, at least the vast majority?"

The soldier nodded again: "Sure, that would mean exactly that. In such case all other personnel would be sent to evacuation points." His face lit up in recognition: "Exactly! We'd have the support personnel exactly where we wanted them to!"

Cameron gave him a ghost of a smile and nodded: "My point exactly. The scientists probably also have some gathering point for the evacuation and we could lock them up too while allowing the others to escape. The only problem is how to do it."

The soldier smiled faintly: "Oh, I think I could do it from the command. However, I'd have to eliminate everyone who's in there first. And I'm not sure if I'm up to it alone."

Cameron gazed at him: "I can help you with that."

"Even though you know that they can incapacitate you?" The soldier sounded doubtful that Cameron's help would be a good idea. It sounded more like a kamikaze action.

"Some risks cannot be avoided." Cameron answered evenly and continued: "So, after you broadcast the alert for the military personnel and send all scientific personnel to the lab and they followed the instructions, you will lock down these areas and then additionally sound evacuation alert for everyone else. You will then unlock the exit, but not before I'm there to check if there are any soldiers trying to escape the base. We can leave the same way we came in then to avoid being seen and recognized."

The soldier didn't look convinced: "I don't think that it's a good plan."

"Do you have any better?" Cameron countered flatly and looked at him challengingly. She knew herself that it was a plan with lots of ifs and whens, but it was the only one she could come up at the moment. If she had more time, if she knew more about the base, she could prepare more detailed and sophisticated one, but unfortunately, they had no time. She computed the almost 70% chance of succeeding in their action and it was enough for her.

The soldier shook his head: "No, I don't." Then he sighed: "OK, let's do it!"

There was one more thing that Cameron wanted to know before they would start executing their plan: "How do you know how to initiate self destruct?" She tilted her head in slight confusion: "Isn't it normally only for the eyes of commanding officers?"

The soldier grinned at her self-satisfied: "It is. But I hacked the system." He let it at that and carefully put his hand on the door knob, but was again stopped by Cameron, who grabbed his upper arm and pulled him away.

"Wait until I check if there's someone out." She hissed at him slightly annoyed and checked the other side of the room with different vision modes. _These humans! They act too often on instinct and don't consider all the possible dangers! _The irony of her own thoughts remained hidden for her at the moment. She was acting on her feelings more and more often, but when it came to a serious situation, she reverted back to her analytical self without being consciously aware of it.

The soldier grinned sheepishly at her and waited for a second until she announced: "It's safe. There's no one behind the door." She turned to him and admonished him: "NOW you can go!"

They made it to the command center without any close encounters. Few times they had to hide for a second while soldiers ran to and fro, but no one took notice of them. It was clear that they were on alert and Cameron could only suspect that they were trying to find a way to break the lock down. She asked herself for the hundredth time why they failed to find the way out through the ventilation shafts, but had no time to dwell on such thoughts. They were here, they had a mission, and that was all that mattered.

After they reached the center, Cameron hid in a small alcove in the wall just around the corner from the entrance to the center, while the soldier went straight to it. He explained to her that they wouldn't suspect him, since he and Chris managed to tamper the surveillance systems so that no one knew that they were the ones to organize her escape. And being authorized to enter the center, he could walk in there and do his job without anyone stopping him. Theoretically. It was just that he had to eliminate the guard at the door and open it for Cameron to help him eliminating the personnel in the command.

The soldier managed to eliminate the guard without any problems and motioned Cameron to join him. They burst into the center, prepared to meet strong resistance, but found only three soldiers, working on their consoles. They eliminated them swiftly and quietly. Actually, it took only three well aimed blows from Cameron's fist to do the job. Soldier's eyes showed how impressed he was with her efficiency, but he chose not to comment on it. He turned to the microphone and proceeded with their plan. Soon the speakers all over the base were blazing with urgent messages for the military and scientific personnel to report to certain areas.

After they checked on the surveillance cameras that almost everyone followed their instructions, Cameron, who meanwhile got acquainted with the control systems, locked the areas where the soldiers and scientists were gathered and left the command with clear instructions to the soldier that he should sound evacuation alert in exactly one minute and unlock the entrance to the base. That would be enough time for her to reach the exit and hide there to prevent any soldiers from escaping.

Exactly as she reached the exit, the alert was given and klaxons made the rest of the crew clear that they should leave the base immediately. She smiled slightly, satisfied that the coordination of actions went so perfectly, before she took her position. She waited there patiently, hidden behind a door and soon she noticed a soldier, in the midst of other people, running towards the exit. She hesitated for a second , but it was enough for him to pass her. She cursed herself for hesitating, but then she realized that it was just a young man, probably on his first mission and his eyes were big with fear. While she tried to understand why she hesitated, another soldier, this time a sergeant came running towards her position. This time she didn't hesitate. Her arm shot out like a snake and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him to the room behind the door, she used to hide. Before he could react, his lifeless body with broken neck sank quietly to the floor behind her.

In next three minutes, she caught two additional ranking soldiers and eliminated them, while leaving everyone else through. After that, there were no new people for another fifteen seconds and she decided to return to the room where they would be leaving the base, according to the plan. The soldier should already be waiting for her there, at least they agreed upon the time she needed at the entrance before.

Halfway to the room, she met him and he nodded and smiled slightly: "We should hurry. The self destruct sequence will start in two minutes and it will take another two minutes until the blast. By that time we must be out of here."

Cameron had nothing to object and just quickened her pace, leaving the soldier running behind her as fast as he could in effort to keep up with her. In a minute they were again at the door to the storage room, this time not meeting a single person. They entered the room and locked the door behind them.

No words were exchanged while they hurried through the ventilation shafts back to the surface. Cameron felt satisfaction that everything went so smoothly and that she didn't have to put herself in any unnecessary danger. _John would be happy to see that I managed it without exposing myself too much. _She was even more proud of herself that she managed to avoid unnecessary killing and believed that John would be proud of her too. _Maybe it isn't so bad to have some human traits and way of thinking after all? Perhaps that's what could win the war against Skynet?_

They needed about two minutes to get out of the system and as they stood on the open ground again, far enough from the entrance to the base, where the escaped personnel gathered in complete confusion, to avoid being seen, the soldier looked at his watch: "Any second now!" As soon as he said the words, the ground shook and they heard a loud deep rumble, coming from underground.

Cameron was satisfied that they managed to destroy this base and even the fact that many people died underground didn't bother her too much. Everyone she met during her imprisonment time deserved to be punished and this was the only way to keep the secrets what they were – secrets. Those, who had nothing to do with her abduction, were given the chance to escape and almost all used it.

She looked at the soldier, who was standing beside her with serious expression on his face: "I don't even know your name."

The soldier grinned at her: "Not yet."

Cameron looked at him questioningly: "Care to tell me?"

"Why not. I'm Edward." The soldier kept is short and crisp.

"Well, then I guess I should thank you for everything." Cameron answered with little emotion in her voice. "Why did you actually care to save me?"

Edward looked at her for a second thoughtfully as if he would be debating with himself should he tell her or not. After a short silence, he obviously made his decision and opened the mouth: "I'm from the future and I've been sent back to help you."

Cameron wasn't as surprised as she should have been after finding out that she was facing another soul from the dark future from which she came too. Maybe not the same timeline, but still… She somehow suspected that there was something strange about him. He was way too comfortable with her around not to have been working with machines before. "Who sent you?" She was sure that he wasn't telling her the whole truth.

This time Edward smiled mysteriously and hesitated for a second before answering: "You sent me back, Cameron Connor. You and your husband."

This time Cameron openly expressed her astonishment: "Me?" She paused and after a second added: "John's my husband?"

"Why, General John Connor of course!" Edward smiled wider before continuing: "I'm not the only one who's been sent back. There are four of us and we all have the same mission: to protect you, John Connor and Sarah Connor and to make sure you make it past Judgment day. Or, if possible, to help you stop it from happening at all. We have also allies from this time, even some in Kaliba group who are helping us in fulfilling the main goals." He paused and looked into her astonished eyes, gazing at him intently. "So far we managed it and we can only hope to remain so successful in the future." He sounded self-satisfied and even proud over his accomplishments so far.

"Chris?" Cameron needed an answer if her new friend was also from the future.

Edward shook his head: "No, he's not from the future. He's not a part of resistance either. He just happened to be at the right time on the right place and I used him in extracting you out. I believe that he had his own plans of getting you out of the base, however, they would be doomed if I wouldn't help him."

Cameron nodded: "I guess you'll have a lot of explaining to do after we get to John."

Edward shook his head: "Sorry, General …" He trailed off, realizing that he addressed her by her formal rank in the future from which he came, and smiled apologetically at her suddenly widened eyes and astonishment, written all over her face. "Excuse me for this slip. But … now you know, so I shouldn't hide it from you anymore. In the future you and John are the leaders of the resistance." Then he shook his head: "But still … I can't come with you. I have to return to my colleagues and follow our mission objectives further. General's orders!"

Cameron needed a second to get over the news she just got to know: "General's orders?" Her voice was unusually soft and not at all terminator-like.

"Yes, orders from General Cameron Connor. You ordered me not to come with you at this time, but to follow the mission. And no, I'm sorry, I can't tell you what our mission is at this time either." It was clear that he was uncomfortable. "However, I must say that you're acting much more human than you said you would. I mean … you in the future told me you wouldn't be so talkative and affectionate. But future you had probably been wrong."

Cameron nodded absentmindedly. She understood him all too well. She had been in the same situation before, having to follow her orders and hide things from John until she could break free from her restrains and decide for herself. "I see. I believe that I should respect my own orders. Even though I'm not the one who gave them." She suddenly understood how John felt when they talked about future John. Just like she felt now. She carefully observed Edward's reactions and realized that he was telling her the truth, or, to be exact, everything he said seemed to be true, but she was sure that he wasn't telling her everything. "You should stay in touch." She had so many questions but they would have to wait for better time. "There are many things that I need to know."

Edward nodded: "Of course. We will contact you in time. Until then, we'll follow our orders and take care that you are all safe. You won't see us, but we'll be there."

Cameron suddenly smiled at him: "I don't think that you'll be able to hide from me. Especially not now. I know that you're here."

Edward laughed quietly: "Watch us, General! We're the best. We've been trained by you personally. We know everything about you."

Cameron's face was suddenly animated: "Oh, the future me most definitely didn't tell you everything."

Edward nodded: "I guess not." Then he stepped back a step and saluted her.

Cameron felt uneasy at seeing a soldier saluting at her and in the same moment remembered that she still had his special taser. She pulled it from the back of her jeans and offered it to him: "I guess you could use this."

Edward nodded: "Sure I could, but you definitely need it more. We've got a few of these gadgets in our armory and you can keep it. It's just as effective against other terminators as it was against you. If you set it high enough, it can fry the chip without taking it out. So … keep it."

Cameron was shocked to hear that it could destroy the chip without taking it out, but didn't show it to Edward. She just nodded, stuck the taser back and extended her hand towards him: "OK, make it safe to the others and take care of you." She knew that this was the way a human would say good bye to someone and decided that it would do no damage if she remained polite.

Edward hesitated for a second, but then accepted her hand and shook it slightly: "Thank you. We will." Then he withdrew his hand, turned and walked away.

Cameron remained unmoving for few seconds and gazed after Edward. _The future changed again! I never saw this man in my future. Well, I wasn't John Connor's wife in my future either. Everything is changing._ Then she turned and walked towards the spot where Chris waited for her in a car to take her to John. Now it was just the matter of few hours until she would be back with her fiancée and the thought made her smile. Even the fact that she couldn't reach anyone didn't diminish her anxiousness. She convinced herself that John and everyone else would be fine. They simply had to be all right. Or at least she tried to convince herself everything would turn out good.

XXXXXXXXXX

Andrea, John and the doctor looked in unison towards the door, which opened abruptly, flying towards the wall and crashing the handle against it. John's eyes widened in shock, suspecting the worst possible scenario, scenario of an attacking terminator. But before he began to panic, he reminded himself that the terminator wouldn't bother to open the door, it would simply tear it down and march inside with blazing guns.

Andrea's mouth opened in an almost perfect O shape, but before she uttered a sound, her eyes took in the scene on the other side of the door and she felt like she would be on the verge of losing her consciousness. She gasped loudly and her eyes looked as big as saucers.

The doctor stared at the door, but wasn't too surprised. He didn't have the knowledge about the future that the other two occupants of the cabin had and it looked to him as if it was just another not so subtle entrance.

As the door opened, they could see a man standing on the other side, almost carrying another man, who had his arm draped across the first man's shoulders, his head almost leaned against the other's head. It was obvious that the second man was in bad condition, but the fact that shocked Andrea and John was, that the second man who was obviously in quite bad shape was Tim!

"TIM!" Andrea screamed after she finally got out of the stupor and literally flew over to the door to her brother. Just as she reached him, Tim managed to straighten up a little and smiled at his sister, who stopped in front of him abruptly.

"Hi, sis! Nice to see you!" Then his eyes caught the doctor and after they lit up in recognition, they swayed over to John. He then sighed relieved, but asked nonetheless: "Is John OK? I guess that this is the doctor?"

Andrea, who threw her arms around him, ignoring the other man, looked at him with tearful eyes and smiled: "Yes, it's the doctor. But … what happened to you?" Her eyes finally scanned his appearance and she could see that he must have had a rough time. Torn clothes, dirt all over and bruises where the eye could see.

Tim smiled at her tiredly: "I've got hit by a car, just as I found the doctor's house. The driver then ditched me in the middle of the forest. Luckily, after I woke up, I ran into Brian. Of course not before I got lost in the forest and wandered in exact the opposite direction from the village." He motioned with his head towards the man who was supporting him and hadn't said anything yet.

Andrea's eyes now finally took in the second man. She was so relieved and happy that Tim was back alive, but worried at the same time after she saw in how bad shape he was, that she completely oversaw the young man, supporting him. She saw Brian smiling at her a little reserved and yet friendly. "You helped my brother getting back?"

Brian nodded: "Yes. He came stumbling to our camp in the forest and looked so miserable that I simply had to help him." He looked towards John: "You must be the one he was so worried about. Even though he got hit by a car, he still wanted to go to the doctor first to get help for you."

John shook his head: "He shouldn't have risked so much just to find help for me." He paused, obviously taken aback by Tim's actions.

Before John could say anything more, the doctor chimed in: "Then I obviously didn't imagine things when I thought I heard something like a car crash."

Everyone but Andrea looked at him perplexed. Only she understood what he meant and nodded to him: "It definitely wasn't the movie!" But she was too happy to have her sibling back to dwell on anything else but the fact that he was here. However, her happiness quickly turned into frown as she saw how weak Tim looked and she ordered him, while addressing Brian at the same time too: "Enough talking! Bring him to the couch and he should lie down! The doctor will have to examine you too!"

Tim already opened the mouth to say something, but he suddenly felt lightheaded, so he just nodded carefully, not to lose his balance. He knew that his condition was not exactly the best and it would only be prudent to listen to his sister. Besides … he was actually lucky that the doctor was already here.

Brian knew that Tim needed to lie down and allow the doctor to examine him thoroughly, so he started slowly towards the couch. However, he couldn't help but be impressed by Tim's sister. After meeting Tim he actually expected someone completely different, more in the direction of another spoiled big city brat, whining over the problems, but he found a beautiful young woman, full of determination instead. He couldn't tear his eyes off of her and noticed that she also looked at him from the corner of her eye from time to time. He carefully half carried Tim to the couch and let him sprawl over it.

As soon as Tim was finally laid on the couch, he sighed relieved. His body ached from the accident, but the long ride on the ATV from the forest to here made his pain even worse. Even though Brian tried to drive as carefully and gentle as possible, the road was in such a bad shape that they got shaken through like they'd been driving off road.

The doctor immediately forgot the intention to return home. He picked up his bag and quickly went over to Tim and began examining him. According to his first impression, Tim didn't suffer any serious injuries, on the contrary, he was, as it seemed, just thoroughly bruised and everything would hurt for a few days, but he wouldn't have any additional problems or unwanted consequences.

Meanwhile, Andrea and Brian joined John, who was now already sitting on his couch. It looked like they would be drawn together by some invisible force and without really thinking, they stood over John, very close to each other. John looked at Brian: "Thank you for helping Tim. I guess that I'm the one who's to blame for his accident."

"Stop it right now, John!" Andrea cut him off resolutely and looked at him with fire in her eyes. She was now sick of John blaming himself for everything that happened. "You had absolutely nothing to do with it."

John wanted to say something, but Andrea got support from Brian, who nodded at her and turned to John: "She's right! It's the bully driver who should be blamed and not you."

John sighed, knowing that he should drop the subject, but there was something else that bothered him: "How the hell did you two met in the forest in the middle of the night?"

Brian fidgeted a little before he answered: "I was out there camping with some friends and he came to our camp. He looked so beaten up and yet so determined to find the doctor that I simply had to offer him my help. So we went to find the doctor, but as we came to his house, we only found his mother." He grinned at the thought of doctor's mother and missed Andrea's broad smile. "We had a nice little chat with her." He chuckled a little: "Actually, she did all the talking and we were only listening. But after she calmed down, she realized that Tim was the man, whom Andrea mentioned as her brother and finally informed us where her son and Andrea went."

Andrea's soft giggles accompanied his story and as Brian and John turned to her questioningly, she explained, after she got her giggles under control: "I had a very nice conversation with her." Then she remembered something and looked at Brian: "I really have to thank you that you helped my brother. He can be so clumsy sometimes!"

Brian smiled at her and shook his head: "Well, he was really awkward at the beginning, but then I realized that he's quite a nice guy. Besides …" he looked Andrea straight in the eyes, "if I wouldn't help him, I'd never got the chance to meet you. And that would be a shame."

Andrea felt how she blushed slightly and caught John's knowing eyes, noticing how he began to smile at her. He saw quite clearly that she was more than just little impressed by Brian, but there was something that she initiated before and they had to maintain to convince the good doctor, so he motioned her to bow to him. After she did, he whispered in her ear: "I see that you like him, Andrea and I'm reasonably sure that he likes you too. But you should play the game you started as long as the doctor is here."

Andrea straightened up, her cheeks now even deeper red than before and nodded. She understood that it would be more than just a little strange if she'd openly show that she found Brian attractive, while she told the doctor that she was John's girlfriend.

Before Brian could even begin to suspect anything, the doctor straightened up, smiling slightly at Tim: "Well, young man, you've had more luck than you could imagine. Nothing's broken, no inner injuries, you just have to heal the bruises and get over the pain." He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a bottle: "Here, some pain killers to ease your discomfort. They're not the strongest, so you can take three a day and if the pain becomes unbearable, another one."

Tim sighed relieved and heard the same sound from Andrea, who was relieved that her brother would be well soon: "Thanks doc, I appreciate your help."

The doctor nodded: "You might feel a little nauseous for a day but it's nothing serious. You just remain in bed and tomorrow you'll be able to get up." Then he turned to Andrea: "Well, luckily I was still here. But now … after I've examined both of your injured men, I can go home. Should, against expectations, something go wrong, you can always come to me."

Andrea left Brian's side and stepped over to the doctor: "I don't know how to thank you. You saved us all. How much do I owe you?"

The doctor's face darkened instantly: "Young lady! I will not charge you anything for this. Consider it a gift from me." Then he smiled again: "And don't forget our agreement!"

Andrea looked slightly ashamed but nodded: "I won't. Thank you again and say hello to your mother from me. I really like her."

The doctor grinned at her: "She surely likes you too." He bowed to her and said quietly: "To be honest, you're the first person in years that managed to convince her to be nice."

John, Tim as well as Brian all said their good-byes to the doctor and he vanished through the door. After few seconds they heard the engine of his car starting and crunching of gravel under the wheels as he drove away.

After the sound of doctor's car disappeared, Andrea turned to Brian and said with strangely constricted throat: "Would you please help me in the kitchen? I have to prepare something to eat for these two patients and you're the only one who's able to assist me." She didn't tell though that she wanted to be alone with him for a minute.

John smiled knowingly at her request: "I'm not that hungry, Andrea. You don't have to prepare anything right now." As Andrea turned to him, he winked at her, letting her know that he understood her real intentions.

Tim, who was already feeling better after he could rest for a while and took one pill to diminish the pain, looked at his sister questioningly: "I'm not hungry either, sis."

But John, who was actually only teasing Andrea, turned to him: "I guess that we could eat something after all and if she's ready to prepare something, we should be thankful." He turned to Andrea, who was blushing slightly: "Right, Andrea?"

Andrea just nodded and went straight to the kitchen, followed by Brian, who was looking a bit confused but still satisfied that he'd get a chance to talk to her in private.

After they disappeared into the kitchen, John leaned back on the couch and sighed: "We're really a nice pair Tim! Trying to be tough but look at us … battered, bruised, depending on help from the others." He went quiet, as he remembered again that Cameron was still somewhere, probably being tortured and he felt a lump rising in his throat. _Where are you, Cam? I miss you so much!_

Tim was slowly drifting off to sleep, but he still managed to answer John: "I'm not that beaten up as you. But I'm happy that Andrea found the doctor and brought him here." His voice was quiet and thick with sleep that was quickly claiming him.

John barely registered his words and nodded absentmindedly. His thoughts concentrated around Cameron and soft voices, coming from the kitchen, lulled him into sleep. However, this time it was not a tormented sleep, he just felt how he slowly slipped under its dark wings. If he would have nightmares about his missing fiancée; that was something he didn't want to even consider right now.

Andrea talked to Brian for few minutes and realized that he was essentially a quite nice guy. After they heard nothing more from the other room, she peeked through the door, just to see both injured dozing off and she smiled a little while turning back to Brian: "They are both asleep. I wouldn't want to bother them right now. They definitely need the rest."

Brian nodded and smiled: "I should return to my comrades too." He actually fidgeted a little before he continued: "I'd really like to see you again Andrea if it doesn't bother you."

Andrea smiled at him with slightly blushing cheeks: "I'd like to see you again too."

Brian's smile widened and he reached into his pocket to give her a card: "Here's my number. Would you give me yours too, so I can call you?"

Andrea nodded eagerly and stepped to the counter, immediately finding a piece of paper and opened the drawer to find something to write. She scribbled her telephone number on the paper and handed it to Brian: "Will you call me?"

Brian took the paper, looked at it and nodded: "You're from San Diego? Then we're not so far away from each other. I live in L.A."

Andrea grinned: "Nice! I'll be waiting for your call."

Brian hesitated for a second, but then quickly leaned towards her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. After he straightened up again, he murmured: "Bye, Andrea! I'll call you soon!" He turned towards the door and heard Andrea's soft voice: "Bye, Brian. I count on that."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarah still stared with open mouth at the young man, who now straightened up and stepped towards them with somehow indecisive expression on his face. He stopped in front of Sarah and looked sharply into her shocked eyes.

Derek's eyes danced from Sarah to the young man, she called Danny in confusion: "Who's this, Sarah?"

Sarah finally managed to get her shock under control and answered, without taking eyes off Danny: "Danny Dyson, son of Miles Dyson."

Derek thought for a second but then a proverbial lamp went on over his head: "You mean Miles Dyson from the Cyberdyne company? The one who died in the explosion?"

Sarah nodded and remained silent for few seconds, before addressing Danny: "Long time no see, Danny."

Danny nodded and a small smile spread over his face: "Quite a long time, Sarah Connor. But you miraculously look as old as you were when I was just a kid."

Sarah completely forgot the pain in her hand and was slightly astonished, as Danny's eyes fell to her hand, which she still clutched to her body: "Does it hurt badly? I'm sorry that I couldn't prevent it from happening." His eyes returned to her face and she couldn't see anything else but embarrassment and honesty in his eyes.

But she was still pissed off with what the terminator did to her, so she answered more poisonously than she intended: "Well, it's a little late to apologize for my broken fingers."

Danny looked to the ground, seemingly slightly ashamed, but after a while, he lifted his head and looked into Sarah's eyes sternly: "I had no idea that you have been taken. Yes, I did work for Kaliba, but I want to get out and I'm doing my best to help you. Jeremiah handled on his own, he didn't inform anyone about his plans to get you two. So, excuse me, but I didn't know that you have been kept prisoners at all until few hours ago."

Sarah's eyes flashed at him distrustfully and she answered: "Why should I believe you? As far as I know, you were blaming me for the death of your father."

Danny nodded: "Yes, I did blame you, but someone delivered me evidence that you were not the one to be considered responsible for his death. I know that he decided by himself to stay behind and destroy all evidence of the technology." He paused and his eyes floated over to Derek: "I'm sorry for what the terminator did to you too. We may not have met before, but I know a lot about you, Derek Reese."

"How could you know a lot about me? I most definitely didn't tell anyone anything about myself!" Derek eyed the young men suspiciously.

Danny smiled at him: "The same man who told me the truth about my father gave me also a lot of information about you, your brother and your comrades from the future."

Derek and Sarah now stared at the young man in total disbelief. Sarah was the first to regain her ability to speak: "Wait a minute! Are you trying to tell us that Derek's from the future?" She turned her astonished gaze to Derek and saw that he was as taken aback as she.

Danny continued smiling and enjoyed in their stares for a second before answering: "Oh, I know a lot more than just that! The man who told me everything had been sent from the future with very specific tasks and he transferred some of them to me."

If Sarah was astonished before, she was now beyond astonishment. Why would someone be sent back from the future to contact Danny Dyson and give him assignments?

Derek finally found his voice again: "Are you sure you're not imagining things, boy?"

Danny shook his head resolutely: "Most definitely not, Derek Reese. How would I then know about how your brother disappeared on a top secret mission in the past? Or … how would I know that you had been interrogated by a Terminator, model TOK 715, now going under the name Cameron Phillips and being John Connor's girlfriend?"

He smiled self satisfied and turned back to Sarah, but before he could say anything, she started: "What do you know about John and Cameron?" Her voice was dangerously quiet, carrying unspoken ice cold threat. Danny hit the nerve without really knowing it and Sarah was now on highest alert.

Danny hung his head for a while, sighed heavily and then began a little insecure: "I know a lot. I know where they are … or were … and I … well …" He suddenly began to stutter and even stopped before continuing. Then he took a deep breath and continued quickly, like he would be trying to tell everything before he lost courage to tell it: "One of my trusted colleagues in the Kaliba informed the military about Cameron, however with some false information to keep her relatively safe." He paused again, as if debating if he should tell them everything or not. "As far as I know, the military already took Cameron."

Sarah's mouth was wide open and her eyes flashed wildly towards Danny, but before she could utter a word, he hastily added: "They have no idea who John is. They only took the cyborg. Your son is safe, Sarah."

"NO ONE IS EVER SAFE!" Yelled Sarah and Derek in unison and only a second later Danny found himself dangling from a hand of very, very angry Derek Reese. He looked into the older man's eyes and shuddered. If looks could kill…

Sarah stepped so close that her nose almost touched his and sneered: "Give me one good reason not to kill you right now, Danny! Just one!" A myriad of thoughts tumbled in her mind, beginning with fear that something might have happened to John. Her next consideration, almost as strong as the first, was, how could have this geek informed the military and indirectly organize Cameron's abduction. Not without a slight surprise she realized that it hit her nearly as hard to hear that Cameron was being held captive as it would hit her if it were John.

Danny suddenly lost his smile and he realized that Derek and Sarah weren't exactly thrilled over his deeds, so he hurried to explain everything: "Listen! They took Cameron, while John is still in the cabin. There is a man in the unit which captured the cyborg to protect her from the others and help her escape at the right time."

Sarah understood nothing: "Why would you give the military information about Cameron and then organize her escape? However, there is one more urgent question: how the hell did the military knew where to find Cameron?"

Danny sighed again, feeling really uncomfortable in Derek's iron grip. However, the truth he had to tell them was far more disturbing than dangling from Derek's hand. "Another man from the future was tailing you at all times and he gave the information to the military."

Sarah shook her head in total disbelief: "If I understand your words correctly, you informed the military about Cameron, set someone to follow us and betray our position to the same military? Am I getting it right?" She rolled her eyes and growled: "I'm just choosing the way to kill you, Danny Dyson!"

Danny nodded erratically. He knew that he was in deep shit and he could stay alive only by telling everything: "Yes, but he also takes care that everyone else is safe. John and his friends too."

Sarah's eyes were still ice cold: "But tell me one thing: why did you betray Cameron?"

"Kaliba hired the best mercenaries and they were already on the move to get her. Yes, they were informed about her and were already tracking her. It was only a matter of few days before they would find and take her. I couldn't think of another way to keep her out of their hands but to get her into military custody under watching eye of our man. Besides … the information that I gave the military was partially wrong."

"Wrong? How?" Sarah tilted her head slightly.

"I informed them that her chip would self destruct upon extraction and gave strict orders to wait with extraction until a specialist from Kaliba would arrive. I'm sorry, but I really had no other idea to keep her relatively safe." Danny almost whined. He now really feared the resistance soldier from the future who showed him his steely side and Danny felt as if Derek's eyes would burn holes into his face.

Sarah looked at him thoughtfully for few seconds and then turned her eyes to Derek: "Let him down, Derek."

"But Sarah! He betrayed Cameron and John …" Derek protested, but her stern look made him shrug and he lowered Danny and let go of him. "As you wish Sarah. But I think you're making a mistake."

"Maybe. But it's my mistake." Sarah's voice was emotionless and she turned back to Danny. She looked at him sharply, noticing that he looked at her sheepishly. "What the hell were you thinking Danny? And why did you do it at all?"

Danny looked at her with big eyes, relieved that he was again standing on his own feet: "I did as the man from the future told me. After he told me so much, I realized that I was making a mistake by working for Kaliba and I wanted to join you and John."

Sarah barked a dry, humorless laugh: "Yeah and you did it by betraying John's fiancée. I don't think that he'll be thrilled with what you did to her. In fact, I don't know if he won't consider terminating you as the best solution." Then she calmed down a bit: "Although I have to admit that you saved our lives just now. Where the hell did you learn to disable a machine?"

If Danny was surprised upon hearing that Cameron was John's fiancée he definitely didn't show it. "The man from the future told me and he gave me a lot of details how one can disable a terminator."

Derek was still highly suspicious, but he had to admit that he wouldn't be alive any more if it weren't for Danny's intervention. "So that's why you had everything necessary with you? Did you know that his chip would self-destruct?"

Danny shook his head: "No, the machine never told us. But the man from the future told me that terminators that were sent back later all had this fail-safe precaution and I hoped that this one would have it too. But just for a case that it wouldn't be so, I was prepared to crush the chip. Once I had the chip in my hands, there would be no more difficulties to destroy it too. After all … a terminator without a chip is only a pile of useless metal."

Sarah sighed heavily: "Still … I don't know what to think of you, Danny. Yes, you saved our lives, but on the other hand … I'm not so sure if delivering Cameron into military's hands was the best idea. Have you any idea what they might do to her? Did you ever consider what John might do to you, after he finds out what you did? The man from the future probably didn't know just how much their relationship changed in last months."

Danny grinned: "Oh, but he did! He told me that they were married in the future!"

Derek smirked at him: "Well, Danny boy, I guess that you then know how John will react when he meets you. You better pray that the military didn't do anything bad to Cameron, otherwise you have really, and I mean REALLY bad cards in this game." He paused and after a second added slyly: "And John holds all aces."

For once Danny looked worried: "I know that he has a temper, but … I hope that he will understand that I was just trying to protect her from the greater evil. If Kaliba got her, she wouldn't stand a chance. And there would also be no one to protect her."

Sarah obviously decided that she would conditionally trust Danny, at least for now: "So, you say that there are two men from the future involved in this? One is with the military and one tailing us?"

Danny shrugged: "As the man told me, there are four of them, but they have different tasks and I've only met him and the other one."

Derek looked deep in his thoughts. "How do they look like? Maybe I know them too."

Danny massaged his temples with the fingers: "Well, I've only met them in a dark room and their faces were hidden in the shadows, so I didn't get to see them clearly …"

"And you still believed them, even though you never saw them?" Sarah sounded incredulous. How could this young man believe someone who never showed their face?

Danny looked at her disapprovingly: "I may not have seen their faces, but I've seen a lot of evidence that convinced me they were telling me the truth. Very hard evidence." He chuckled humorlessly: "Do you really think I'm that stupid as to believe the first one who crosses my path and offers me something?" His head shook resolutely: "No, ma'am, I thoroughly checked their stories and their evidence before I decided to believe them."

Derek sighed impatiently. He was thinking along the same lines as Sarah, but Danny's answer eased his considerations at least partly. "OK, tell me what you saw!"

Danny turned back to him: "Well, the man who did most talking was big, strong and had long hair, bound in a pony tail. I always had a feeling that he was Native American. The other one was perhaps even bigger, but his hair was cropped short, like a military crew cut." He paused and looked like he would be thinking deeply. After a second he shook his head: "Sorry, that's all I can remember. They said they would stay in touch and that I only had to contact you two. They would take care of everything else."

Derek chuckled humorlessly: "Great description. I could say that every second resistance fighter would suit your two men." He shook his head: "No use!"

Sarah, who during this conversation almost forgot about her broken hand, suddenly felt the pain in it again and made a grimace: "OK, enough sweet talk! We should get going! We must get back to the cabin as soon as possible. We've got work to do!"

For once, Derek agreed with her completely and gently shoved Danny towards the van: "Do you have any thermite in there? We should get rid of this body." At his last words, his foot almost subconsciously nudged the body of the terminator.

Danny smiled and nodded vigorously: "Of course! I told you that I came prepared."

TBC


End file.
